Calamity
by Cvy22
Summary: It was uncomfortable having Albus Dumbledore as a legal guardian. Ariana Flamel's relationship with the great wizard was strained. A self-reliant fifteen year old girl, they were far too different to communicate civilly and she was not used to doing what she was told. A strange girl with a somber past, she is quickly tangled up in the baffling comedic mischief of the Weasley Twins.
1. Chapter 1 - The Hogwarts Express

**Chapter 1 - The Hogwarts Express**

The room was dimly lit and the air was gritty with dust. The walls of the room were lined with books and display cases that showed various strange instruments and bobbles. Portraits filled the high vaulted ceilings and the individuals depicted within scattered to and fro, moving from frame to frame to gossiping among themselves in quiet whispers.

Ariana strolled around the room, inspecting gadgets here and there and lifting books from the shelves for further inspection. The tittle _When Apparitions Go Horribly Wrong _caught her eye in particular. She stood on her tip-toes and wrestled it from its perch on an overly crowded shelf and thumbed through it. It told gruesome stories of when witches and wizards apparated into solid objects, like pipes, moving trains or miles above the ground. In one case a man apparated in the middle of a duel, which ended in two particularly horrible deaths.

She was soon so engrossed by the book that she did not notice she was no longer alone. She didn't know how or when he got there but she was shocked to see Albus Dumbledore was seated in his office chair flipping through the scattered letters on his desk. He seemed not at all surprised she had figured out how to enter his office and made no mention of it, which disappointed her slightly, as she was quite proud of herself.

He glanced at her over his half-moon spectacles and gave a small smile.

"Are you nervous for the start of the new term, Ariana?"

"No." she lied. She was very nervous. She was about to meet hundreds of students and she didn't know a single one of them. She felt impossibly alone, although that was her usual state. She glanced down at her gloved hands and avoided farther eye contact. The gloves; she hated them. Extremely over-sized, they hung a few centimeters off the tip of her fingers and were made of dark, worn dragonhide. They were forcing her to wear them and every time she looked at them she seethed with hatred. They were like shackles on a prisoner. She forced her attention away from the gloves and was suddenly very interested in the ornaments along the wall.

"I'm sure you will meet many students much like yourself. Would you prefer to be sorted now and begin to move your luggage into your dormi-" "Can I ride the Hogwarts Express in?" she interrupted.

He smiled and nodded understandingly.

Late at night on August the 31st, Ariana was standing at Hogsmeade station, a completely empty trunk behind her. She was concerned about blending in with the other students, yet didn't want to go through all of the trouble of hauling her belongings through the journey from Hogsmeade to Kings Cross, then back to Hogsmeade yet again. She was already dressed in her robes although since she wasn't sorted yet she had no sigil and no house colors, despite the fact that she was fifteen years of age as of a month ago.

Around her the towns people were busy preparing the quaint town of Hogsmeade for the return of the students, who would be coming in the next day. The Hogwarts Express stood before her, tall and menacing with steam billowing from its chimney. She took a deep breath and heaved her trunk on board along with her.

She sat on the train for some time, watching the hills rolling through the countryside as it became dark. The Honeydukes Trolley lady Ariana would meet later was nowhere to be found. She sat alone for very long hours staring through the window until the rocking noises of the train lulled her to sleep. It was a deep but restless sleep, she flipped around and kicked at imaginary specters. In her dream she saw her fathers face and she called out to him but no words came. He slowly faded away and she saw Dumbledore, grinning softy at her over a large tome in his hands. It made Ariana angry and she couldn't explain why.

In no time at all, her eyes were fluttering open and she had to shield them from the harsh rays of morning sun. The Hogwarts Express's horn sounded to signal their presence they approached Kings Cross. Ariana pushed herself off of the surprisingly comfortable seats where she had unwittingly spent the night and the journey to Kings Cross Station and eagerly gazed out of the window. A multitude of families were milling about on the platform. Mothers were hugging their children, some laughing and others with tears in their eyes. Fathers were patting their children's heads and giving warm goodbyes and younger siblings were looking on gleefully. Ariana watched, eyes wide with wonder, fascinated by the many wizarding families.

Some students began bustling onto the train, others waited with their families for their last few precious moments with them until the holidays. Ariana was too impatient, she left her compartment and filed onto the platform against the grain of the others. There were thirty more minutes until the Hogwarts Express left, so there was plenty of time to explore. She roamed through the crowd, inspecting everyone she saw. Some students were already in their robes, and she familiarized herself with the different Hogwarts Houses. Despite being raised in the wizarding world, this all seemed so strange to her. Certain groups stood out in particular. She saw what she assumed was the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, all with brooms and Quidditch gear on their trolleys. She saw a doting mother, father and son, all with brilliantly glowing blond hair that was almost white. The son was already wearing his Slytherin robes and she watched as another adult greeted them cheerfully and Ariana heard the surname 'Malfoy'. She saw Harry Potter and an adult with violently red hair enter the platform through the barrier. And moments after she saw two red headed children, one young girl and a tall gangly older boy who wore a Head Boy badge, although on closer inspection she stifled a laughter as she saw it read 'Bighead Boy'. She turned back towards the gleaming red Hogwarts Express and return to her compartment. A first year girl had joined her and before the train left she was joined by another younger Hufflepuff student. They sat in relative silence until the train sounded its horn one more time and began moving. The younger two students began giggling and chatting amongst themselves as Ariana began watching through the window again. Soon after departure it began to violently rain, beating harshly against the window and the doors to their compartment opened as the cheerful trolley lady arrived. She made a large sum of money on their compartment. Suddenly realizing her hunger, and in awe of the strange variety of treats, Ariana alone bought 3 Chocolate Frogs, a Cauldron Cake, Pepper Imps, Fizzing Whizzbes and Droobles Best Blowing Gum. She enjoyed the treats for the rest of the train ride. The Chocolate frogs were slightly disturbing and she was terrified when she began levitating after eating a Fizzing Whizzbe. She was too scared to try the Pepper Imps for a very long time until the curiosity was killing her so she ate it. Both of her compartment mates were used to Honeydukes sweets or at least knew of them. Ariana however, had no idea what to expect but breathing fire was far from it. Later she would spot the label on the sweets, 'Breath fire for your friends', and she would be very ashamed. She nearly screamed as the first licks of flame escaped her mouth and the two younger students burst out laughing, albeit lightheartedly. She covered her mouth and smoke began to billow out of her nostrils. Just then the compartment doors slid open and two twin boys stood there, both with the same bright red head of hair she had seen on three others already today.

They glanced around the compartment and one asked, "Have any of you lot seen Lee Jordan?"

Ariana couldn't hold her breath any longer and she couldn't breathe through the smoke in her nostrils. She took a deep breath and a large puff of fire burst from her mouth.

Completely stone-faced, one of the boys responded, "Well, doesn't seem like she's in a good mood right now, George." "No, not at all. How 'bout we come back later then?" And they left. Ariana was mortified her face was beet red and her compartment mates were roaring with laughter. After a few moments of cautious laughter, to be sure the effect had worn off, Ariana was began laughing bashfully with them.

The train began to slow and Ariana believed them must have already arrived. The wind and rain suddenly seemed very loud as all else became silent. The lights began to flicker. The entire train was silent excluding hurried whispers in some of the compartments. Ariana poked her head out of the compartment, like many others. The train suddenly came to a complete stopped and Ariana's empty trunk fell heavily on the first years head and the lights suddenly went completely out. Ariana was about to use the Lumos charm but she remembered the effect her gloves had on her ans refrained. She fumbled around until she found her Pepper Imps, in case of an emergency. The train was eerily cold and a lot of students were panicking including the two younger students with Ariana, who were now whimpering in the dark of their compartment. She took out her wand and pointed it towards the door and a Pepper Imp in the other hand, for any good it could do. There was a loud bang followed by a flash of light from the opposite end of the train. Everyone stood in silence for a few moments until the lights began to flicker and turn back on. The Hogwarts Express began to slowly move again and get back on its way. The whole train made a sigh of relief but then just as quickly began buzzing with rumors like 'dementor' and 'Potter fainted'. A chorus of this was being shouted through the hallway by a particularly annoying blond haired boy, the one she had spotted earlier with his parents at Kings Cross station.

Ariana and her companions spent the rest of the train ride indulging in such gossip. Soon enough they arrived at Hogsmeade Station and everyone disembarked. It was already dark. If she had known how long the train ride would be she would have packed a meal. Ariana was starving. Dumbledore said if she arrived hungry the Start-of-Term feast would be the best she ever had and she was sincerely looking forward to it. A massive man in a mole-skin overcoat was waiting for them and as soon as the train stopped he began booming, "Firs' Years! Firs' Years! Over here! Fullow me!" He repeated it over and over again, receiving a few scornful or reproachful looks from some students around him. The first years stared at him in disbelief. Knowing she had to follow Hagrid to be sorted, Ariana fell in line right behind him. Whereas she, a fifth year, looked like a giant among the first years, Hagrid looked colossal. Ariana found it funny that Hagrid, the Groundskeeper, and soon to be Care of Magical Creatures teacher in charge of dangerous killer animals and lover of monsters was in charge of escorting these treacherous and dangerous first years. Many of them looked as if they were close to crying or losing their lunch. She caught a glimpse of the two red-headed twins, George and Someone, approaching them, walking in the flow of students that lead towards the carriages with a friend of theirs and she assumed they did eventually find 'Lee Jordan'. She shielded her face and ducked behind Hagrid to avoid them.

When Hagrid was satisfied he had rounded up as many students as he could, he led them down a path to small boats in which they all clambered into. They made their way onto and across the great glassy Black Lake and towards the base of the great stone castle and onto a platform with a very weather beaten door. Soon they were all lined up to enter the Great Hall and be sorted. Ariana was suddenly regretting not being sorted before her trip on the Hogwarts Express. She was four years older than the first years and stood behind them all, towering over them. All too soon, they filed into the Great Hall stood awkwardly around the Sorting Hat, waiting to be called. The first year's faces shone with terror as they awaited their sorting. Despite this the Sorting Hat always shouted their house confidently. Ariana was one of the last left standing but at last her name rang throughout the Great Hall, "Ariana Flamel!" She couldn't help but notice a few hushed whispers sounding all around her. Mostly because it was rare to get a new student who wasn't a first year, but Harry, Ron and Hermione upon recognizing the name began discussing her. "It HAS to be some very distant relation if any at all!" exclaimed Hermione, "I mean..Flamel was what? ….six hundred years old, right?"

Ariana ascended the few stone steps leading to the Sorting Hat. She glanced at Dumbledore and his eyes twinkled at her a little. She turned and sat squarely on the stool and placed the Sorting Hat on her head. She kept her face calm and confident. Truly she didn't care which house she got into, as long as the students let her keep to herself.

'Hmmmm...you're determined, won't let anything stand in your way and you would do anything to get what you want...hmmm but you also thirst for knowledge. You love to understand and to know. Which would you prefer? Slytherin or Ravenclaw?'

Ariana did not want to answer. She did not want to affect the results of her sorting in any way.

'Not going to answer? Well that decides it, doesn't it?'

"RAVENCLAW!"

One of the center tables erupted in cheers, although halfheartedly as they were very eager for the fest to begin. She passed the hat to Professor McGonagall and briskly walked between the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables until she found a vacant seat. Across from her sat a girl around her age. She was tall and willowy and she had a mocha skin tone with dark black hair neatly about her shoulders. She had bright green eyes below her row of bangs. She was very pretty and made Ariana wonder about the state of her own appearance. Ariana ran her gloved fingers through her brown hair and pushed it way from her face. It fell messily around her shoulders. Ariana and the girl exchanged glances just as a third year Ravenclaw boy approached her and leaned on the table beside her. He must have been thirteen years old. "Hey! Welcome to Ravenclaw. I hope you like it!" He was all smiles and Ariana was too hungry to bother with him. "Thanks." she tried to be polite without being inviting so he would scurry away before the feast began. She had full intentions of devouring this feast in the most unladylike way.

The boy chuckled and started to chit-chat again "I'm John by the wa-" "Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast..." Dumbledore was at his podium and so began his speech. John did in fact scurry back to his seat before a Prefect could berate him for being out of his seat while Dumbledore was addressing them. Ariana was all too happy. Dumbledore went on to say that dementors were to be stationed throughout the grounds and that no students should leave the school without permission. He also announced the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin and new Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Hagrid.

"Well, I think that is everything of importance," said Dumbledore, "Let the feast begin!" and on that note all of the golden plates before them filled with exquisite looking food.

Dumbledore was right. This was the most delicious meal Ariana had ever experienced. There were roast steaks, and honeyed pork, and most importantly a great variety of deserts. There were tarts and fruit pies and chocolate cakes. Everything was delicious. Ariana dug in so quickly she soon had to slow down and remind herself to breath or she might lose consciousness. Not long after the food arrived the persistent boy, John, reappeared at Ariana's side. Ariana didn't have the nerve to tell the poor boy to get lost and leave her to this precious food. John said, "Sorry, I had to go back to my seat earlier, what I was saying was -" "The Bloody Baron is headed your way." John looked across the table at the green eyed girl then he looked down the length of the tables and sure enough, the Bloody Barron was headed his way, gore and all. A look of terror crossed his face and he glanced back at Ariana and said a quick and quivering goodbye and headed back to his seat. Ariana looked at the green eyed girl and they both laughed. "Thanks." "Sure." Then both went back to their meals for a while until the green eyed girl asked, "What year are you?" Ariana glanced up from her plate, "Fifth." "Me too. We'll be in the same dormitory. I'm Susie."

Susie seemed very harsh and unapproachable, but so did Ariana. They smiled at each other again and finished their meals in silence. John did not pester Ariana again. Once the majority of students were finished with their meals Dumbledore spoke, he welcomed them one more time and sent them to their common rooms. The majority of the table raised and headed for the door. The Slytherin table headed towards the dungeons, the Hufflepuffs towards the kitchens and the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws began their long trek up the flights of staircases. Susie finished her plate, said goodbye and quickly disappeared into the crowd streaming out of the Great Hall. Ariana finished her plate and quickly left as well. She did not know where the Ravenclaw common room was, by the time Ariana waded her way out of the Great Hall most of the Ravenclaw students had disappeared. Gryffindors were streaming up the staircase slowly, happily chatting about their summer. Knowing their common rooms where the closest, she followed behind them. They went up one staircase, then two, three, four. It was on the fourth floor that Ariana realized the enormity of the castle and came to the conclusion that it would be best if she got used to getting lost. Glancing up the stairs she realized she was falling behind the Gryffindors, she sped up. Finally they made it to the seventh floor. Ariana knew the Ravenclaws also lived in a tower so when the Gryffindors turned east from the stair cases she turned west. She felt she was getting closer as she approached what looked like a library. Large book shelves lined the walls of a very large hallway. Comfy looking armchairs and flickering lanterns filled the room. She wondered around a bit, distracted by some of the books.

"Excuse me!? What are you doing out of your common room?" an irate voice sounded from behind her. "The Beginning- of-Year Feast is over, you should be in your common room."

Ariana whipped around quickly. It was the 'Bighead Boy'. He was wearing his Gryffindors robes and his shinny badge was back to saying 'Head Boy'.

"I'm looking for my common room. I thought it was near the Gryffindors."

For a moment he was very suspicious as she was not a first year, it took him a moment to remember her from the sorting earlier. He was still disgruntled yet he had apparently decided she was not looking for trouble. "Its two floors down. This is the North Wing."

Ariana turned back towards the Grand Staircase and descended back to the fifth floor. Percy the Bighead Boy watched her leave to make sure she was not feigning innocence. On the fifth floor she caught a glimpse of blue and silver rounding a corner to her left so she followed. She turned the corner and came to a hallway leading to a thin spiral staircase. The Ravenclaws she spotted moments ago were out of sight. She climbed the spiral staircase, eyes on her feet. She could hear the sound of two Ravenclaw students on the staircase in front of her. She climbed until an extreme cold overcame her. It felt as if ice water had been dumped on her, it was so strong she almost lost her footing and fell backwards but she grabbed on the railings and looked up to realize she was standing in the midst of the Grey Lady who had been descending as she was ascending. "Well!" the Grey Lady seemed offended by being walked through, although Ariana believed it to be a much more unpleasant experience for her. "Sorry." she said hastily. "You should hurry to the common room before Mr. Filch finds you." The Grey Lady floated down a few more steps and looked back at her new student. "Yes Ma'am." said Ariana. She turned and continued up the tiny spiral staircase. When she emerged she was face to face with a wooden door with a large brass knocker in the shape of an eagle. Seeing nothing else she reached out for the knocker. As soon as she touched it, it spoke, "What goes up when rain comes down." Ariana thought for a few moments. She ran the riddle over and over in her mind.

'What goes up when rain goes down...'

Admittedly it did take her a few moments however, when the answer came to her it struck her like a bolt of lightning.

"Umbrellas!"

"Excellent! You defiantly belong in Ravenclaw!" the knocker complemented her.

The door creaked open and Ariana walked in. She gave a fleeting glance back through the door and saw the Grey Lady quietly waiting in the stairwell to see if she could make it in. She gave her a small smile as the door closed between them.

* * *

_Authors Note: I hope you enjoyed!_

**Next Chapter: Classes Begin**


	2. Chapter 2 - Classes Begin

**Chapter 2 - Classes Begin**

The Ravenclaw common room was the most beautiful room Ariana had ever seen. She was suddenly very confident that the Sorting Hat was right in choosing Ravenclaw. It was wide and open but warm and cheerful. There were blue and silver silks and rugs throughout the room. Students littered the common room, some studying before classes started, others chatting by the fire place. Directly across the room from her was a large inlaid bookshelf with a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw. Ariana approached it and noticed the door behind it, noting that there was no other door in the common room, she pushed it open and entered a small room with a double curved staircase. She chose the one on her right and was on the fifth step when a strange whistling noise caught her ear. She stopped for a moment to get a better idea of the noise, just as a gale of wind came down the spiral staircase. She tried to reach out for the railing but it slipped from her hands. Ariana tumbled down the stairs quite painfully and came to a stop at the bottom of the staircase. She raised herself up, lamenting her choice of stairs and chose the left staircase. She climbed the staircase softly and with both hands on the rail just in case, until she made it to the very top. Ariana looked around and felt relief as she realized she had finally made it to the Ravenclaw girls dormitories. There were two girls rooms on this floor and a small staircase that led upwards. She went up two more floors and opened the door to see Susie and 5 other girls in the room.

Many of the girls had already gone to sleep, so Ariana tiptoed towards the two empty beds. She found her luggage placed neatly in front of the nearest one so she changed into her sleeping garments and went straight to bed.

The next morning Ariana woke up to the sound of her alarm clock. She glanced around the room for a few moments, disoriented. The girls all began to raise and some, including Susie were already up. They all dressed in the Ravenclaw embroidered cloaks and vests and got ready for their first day of being back to school. Ariana dragged herself groggily to breakfast, inciting the soft laughter of Susie. They walked to breakfast together and ate solemnly. They would be having their first class together, Defense Against the Dark Arts with the other Ravenclaw and Gryffindor fifth years.

"Do you have any elective classes?" piped up Ariana.

"Yes, I'm taking a Muggle Studies class after this." Ariana was taken aback, "You like that kind of stuff?" She didn't think stoic Susie would be interested in Muggle history. "It's really interesting how they get along without magic. You should take it next year." "Hmn." Ariana wasn't very interested in Muggles. Why take classes on them when there are so many forms of magic to learn?

"I've been wondering.." started Susie, "Why are you always wearing those large gloves? You even wore them to bed.."

Ariana paused, knowing this topic would eventually come up, although she had hoped it wouldn't happen so quickly.

"They were my father's," was all she had to say in the most despondent voice she could muster and Susie nodded and didn't bring it up again. 'Were' being a key word.

They scarfed down their breakfasts and Susie hurried off to Muggle Studies and Ariana was left alone. She decided to wander around the castle. She wandered through the first floor, walked around the courtyard, she found the Portrait Hall wherein hung hundreds of previous headmasters of Hogwarts and a special wall for notable graduates. Ariana scornfully wondered if they were already saving a spot for Potter. She ascended to the second floor and found only the Defense Against the Dark Arts Office and nothing else besides empty store rooms. She ventured up one more flight of stairs and found the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom they would be using later that day and also the Charms classroom. She wondered around the Armory for some time until she come to the library. The library was two stories tall and every bit of wall was covered with books. Even when there was no bookshelf, the books were stacked up haphazardly. Ariana wandered around for a while and suddenly came to her senses as a clock near her rang. She paused reading a book she had found and glanced at the clock in disbelief. It rang three times. She had completely missed lunch and Susie had been out of her class for a long time. She returned her book to its rightful place an hurried back to her dormitory to get her books for some studying before Defense Against the Dark Arts class. She ran up the stairs and into her dormitory room. No one was around. She grabbed her book _The Essential Defense Against the Dark Arts _by Arsenius Jigger. She sat on her bed with her parchment, quill and book and took notes for the next hour. Just as she was about to pack up her things, books in hand, Susie walked into the dormitory.

"Hey." she said. "Hi." "You ready?" "Yea." Ariana was touched. She didn't mention it, but Susie had come looking for her to make sure she wasn't late to her first class at Hogwarts, or to make sure she knew where it was. They left together and went down two floors to the classroom. They were some of the first students to arrive. They walked in and found two vacant seats in the back of the classroom on the far side, as Ravenclaws and Gryffindors slowly filed in after them. Ariana recognized her dorm mates, a few Ravenclaw boys from the common room, the redheaded twins from the train and their friend Lee Jordon.

Ariana and Susie opened their books and set out their parchments for class. They were perfectly prepared for class as the instructor, Professor Lupin arrived - or so they believed until he spoke, "Hello class. As you all know I am Professor Lupin and I will be teaching this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts class." He looked around the room as he talked, inspecting them. "I'm pleased to see we have so very diligent young students here, however I believe you must learn to defend yourself by actually practicing it. If you will all leave your belongings here and follow me - make sure you bring your wands! You won't be needing anything else." With that he left the classroom. After a moments glance among themselves, the students hurriedly rose, wands in hand, and followed after him. They followed him as he led them down the hallway and into a room that was relatively empty, save for some furniture in the back corner.

Many of the students were whispering excitedly and as their excitement rose so did their voices until Professor Lupin spoke again and they all quickly hushed. "Today we will be practicing the Shield Charm. It is a very important charm for obvious reasons. I want you all to be very familiar with this charm as it could very well save your life." Professor Lupin had the whole classes rapt attention. I'm want you to divide into pairs with one person attacking with simple charms like the Dancing Feet Spell, Confundus Charm or the Stickfast Hex, something that can be _fixed or cured."_ he emphasized this point, "The second witch or wizard will be defending against the attack with the Shield Charm. Just wave your wand like this- " Lupin grabbed a Gryffindor girls wand arm, turned her to face the other students and rotated her wand arm in a complete circle, "and say _Protego_!" He released the girl and she returned to her friends giggling and blushing.

Lupin arranged them into two rows down the room with a pair in each row. Ariana and Susie were paired, in front of them were a Ravenclaw boy and girl, behind there were two Gryffindor girls and across from them were the redheaded twins. Ariana stood with her back facing them, being the attacker this would send her charms towards the wall if she missed or if they were reflected. Susie's stood with her back towards the wall and gave the Shielding Charm a few test casts.

"Ready?" "Yeah!" Susie sounded confident and she had every right to be. Ariana let loose the Confundus Charm and Susie blocked it will almost no effort. Her shield was strong and did not waiver at all. Other students all around them were struggling with timing and holding the shield for long enough. Every now and then Ariana would cast a spell and it would fail to leave her wand. The first time it happened she stared at her wand in absolute confusion. She glanced at Susie in embarrassment and Susie smiled and nodded her head understandingly. She would cast the spell again. They went on for nearly half of the class time until something whirred right past Ariana. The redheaded twins had quickly become too excited and the farthest one shot a Seize and Pull Charm, a golden light flew from his wand towards his brother, who skillfully shielded, but the rope flew behind him. A flash of golden light shot past Ariana and in an instant, tangled itself around her middle. She let loose a small scream as she was sent flying through the air towards the farthest twin. She slammed into him and both of them were sent sprawling to the ground, their limbs tangled together awkwardly. "You're the fire-breathing girl from the train!" the boy shouted. Ariana jumped from the ground seething and flushed, "Watch what you're doing!" She spit out. The boy, himself stunned, didn't have time to react or apologize before she returned to Susie. They switched roles and Ariana began to cast her Shield Charm. Her charm was much weaker than Susie's. It waivered and sputtered off before she meant it to. Ariana tried to put more and more power into it but the spell just got weaker and weaker as she quickly became drained of energy, until eventually she was not producing a shield at all. She was being hit with full forced Confundus Charms which barely left her standing. Susie offered to stop but Ariana knew charms and spells were what she was struggling with the most. She was furious at herself for lacking the skill others had.

Susie took the chance to stop using the Confundus Charms and hit her with a Dancing Feet Charm. Ariana failed to produce a shield again and was forced to dance as Susie burst out laughing. "Use the countercharm! Come ON!" Ariana shouted. Susie tried but had trouble pronouncing through her laughter, "Finnaaaaa-hahah...Finite Innhahaha" and Ariana couldn't help but laugh too. "Come ON Susie!"

"_Finite Incantatum_!" Professor Lupin said with an with a wave of his wand Ariana stopped dancing and both of the girls fell to the floor laughing with a few endearing 'I can't stand you's and 'you're the worst'. Professor Lupin chuckled at then he glanced down to Ariana's gloved hands and he said, "Practice your Shield Charm more and maybe it will improve."

Ariana, suddenly pensive, nodded. Susie glanced between them, realizing that something she did not truly comprehend had been said. "What does he mean?" "He means practice, what do you think he means?" responded Ariana and she laughed it off.

Professor Lupin soon declared the class was at an end. Despite being terribly hungry almost none of the students wanted the class to come to an end, however they returned to the classroom and grabbed their belongings and rushed to the Great Hall for dinner and to begin the first weekend of the semester. The weekend flew by in a flurry. Susie concentrated on her three thousand page essay for Muggle Studies. Ariana spent the majority of her weekend in an unused storage room on the third floor practicing her Shield Charm. She tried to stay positive and believe what Professor Lupin had said to her, that if she practiced _maybe _it would get better. She made very little progress.

She realized that Charms class on Tuesday morning was going to be a real struggle for her and she was not looking forward to it. However, Ariana did have History of Magic, Potions and the Study of Ancient Runes to look forward to on Monday.

Monday morning came and Ariana was already awake and ready. She was too excited for her classes to sleep. She sat on her bed rereading today's chapter for Potions class and waited for Susie to get ready. They would have History of Magic, Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts together today.

When they were both ready they walked down the five flights of stairs to enjoy a light breakfast. The Great Hall was alive with chatter about the Quidditch season starting soon. Quidditch captains could be seen giving quick team huddles throughout breakfast. "Are you looking forward to it?" asked Ariana. "Not really. It's not my thing. Never has been." Despite this, she like many other Hogwarts students, knew the name of every Quidditch member. She pointed to Marcus Flint as he ran up and down the Slytherin table reminding his team of practice this week. She pointed out Ravenclaw's captain, Roger Davies and their beater, Cho Chang and Ravenclaw's keeper Grant Page.

Realizing they were going to be late to class, the girls grabbed their books and hurried to their History of Magic class. They grabbed their seats, Ariana was bordering a wall, however the window was too far away for her liking. After only moments in class Susie felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see a Slytherin boy who had cropped dark hair and a grey vest with his green tie tucked in neatly. "Do you have a spare quill? I've forgotten mine." he drawled out and Ariana watched as Susie melted like butter in his hands. It was as if Ariana was watching a horror movie happening right in front of her. She didn't want to lose her new found friend because of a boy…

"Ssure." She stuttered and pulled out a spare. Ariana noted two of his Slytherin friends watching from the back of the room. Susie slowly handed the quill to him and he grabbed it, needlessly brushing his hand against hers. If Susie could have melted anymore, she would have.

The boy gave an apathetic smirk and drawled on, "I'm Cas-" "Cassius Warrington….uh..." Susie quickly tried to find and excuse for knowing him that wouldn't make her seem creepy, "From Slytherin's Quidditch team!"

"Yea! Do you watch our games?"

Susie laughed softly, Ariana knew her well enough now to know it was a false and nervous laughter.

"Only the Ravenclaw games…"

A lie. Ariana had to keep herself from laughing at her friends struggle. She wondered if she was supposed to be helping her friend escape the situation like Susie did during the Start-of-Term feast for her, or if Susie wanted to be left to her stuttering. She decided to leave her alone and busy herself with her textbook. The two continued to chat about the upcoming Quidditch season until Professor Bins arrived. "See you later then?" he said. "Sure." Susie gave him an immense smile. Cassius returned to his seat some two rows away and Susie put her nose in her book, pretending to be paying attention but Ariana was stunned to hear her periodically giggling to herself.

The class ended too quickly for Ariana's liking. She found herself truly enjoying the class. They hurried to the Great Hall for a quick and light lunch before hurrying on to the dungeons. They were both very excited for Potions class, Ariana in particular because she knew she would not be facing the same difficulties as she had been experiencing with casting charms.

The dungeons were dark, cold and damp, very different from the warm airy Ravenclaw Tower but it did not daunt her. As beautiful as Ravenclaw tower was, she felt more at home in a place like the dungeons. She loved the echo her footsteps made on the cold damp stones and she loved the musty smell that hung in the air and the dim lighting the candles provided.

When they arrived Professor Snape was already waiting. They set up their cauldron and opened their textbooks. Their Potions class would be shared with the Hufflepuff fifth years. As students began filing into the dungeon Professor Snape began distributing ingredients.

"As fifth years, I would hope you had skill enough to use these ingredients wisely as I will not be allotting more than what is required." The class was silent. Ariana was sitting straight up in her seat fidgeting with her feet, beyond excited.

"Today we will be pairing up to craft two Aging Potions. One partner will craft an Ageing Potion to age you ten years, and the other will craft one to take away ten years. Please keep in mind which potion is which….if you were to craft a potion too strongly and lose fifteen years, you might very well die." He paused and glanced around the room for a moment.

"You all have your ingredients. Begin."

A Hufflepuff boy raised his hand, "Sir, what is the recipe for the Ageing Potion? " Snape spun around, his cape twirling as he did so, "5 points from Hufflepuff. Twit. I assigned you a book, I'd have hoped you read it." Many of the other Hufflepuffs winced in empathy for the boy. None of the Ravenclaws made a sound. Everyone began crafting their potions. Ariana raised her wand to her cauldron and gave it a wave, " _Titulous ' Older' " _and there was no affect. She repeated once more and the word 'Older' formed in script across her cauldron. She turned to Susie, who nodded in agreement, and she pointed her want at her cauldron, "_Titulous 'Younger' " _and this time immediately the word 'Younger' was scribed across her cauldron. Susie, who had an aversion to the nasty ingredients, began filling both cauldrons halfway with water as Ariana, protected by her gloves, began preparing their ingredients. Snape began walking around the dungeon, inspecting the students work. He rarely spoke, but when he did it was to berate the student for poor artistry in their work. When he rounded the tables and approached Ariana and Susie's cauldrons he paused.

"Two points to Ravenclaw for a good use of the Marking Charm." He frowned as if it was hard to compliment anyone who wasn't from his house. He closely inspected their ingredients, lifting some of the newts tails up, and feeling their Niffter skins to see if they were thin enough. "Cut the Niffter skins thinner. It will make the potion more accurate." He dropped the skins to the table and strode away. Susie and Ariana beamed, advice and house points being as close to kindness as they had seen from Professor Snape.

Towards the end of class Professor Snape told them to try their potions, one by one in front of the entire class. Most of the students preformed successfully, some students end result left them a tad bit older or younger than their usual self but the effect was only temporary, a few days at best. One student's potion resulted in no effect at all. Professor Snape was furious.

"You heated the cauldron too high! You ruined the entire potion and all of my ingredients! Ten points from Hufflepuff!" The girl ran from the class in tears and her friend ran after her. "Don't come back unless you've learned to READ!" he spit out after them.

Ariana partook of their potion. She stood in front of the class with the flask in her hand and threw the mix to the back of her mouth. The smell and taste was awful, she nearly gaged. A heat rose from the pit of her stomach and spread through her limbs. The room blurred and slowly seemed to shrink around her. After minute Snape spoke, "Excellent." Ariana spun around hoping for a mirror but couldn't find one. She was a fifteen year old girl and was dying to know what the fully grown her would look like. Was she pretty? Would she grow up gracefully? She glanced at Susie who grabbed a parchment and held it in front of her and whispered, "_Picturae incantare._"

"Go on. Take the second potion!" barked Professor Snape and she did. Ariana's body suddenly felt very squished and achy. Her visions blurred again and after about a minute the sensations wore off. "Excellent. Excellent! This is what the effects of the Ageing Potion should look like. Five Points to Ravenclaw. NEXT!"

Ariana, now very proud of her and Susie's potion skills and empowered by the points they'd won, she rushed back to her seat. Susie held out the piece of parchment to her. Ariana gaped at what was in front of her. She was staring back at a twenty-five year old version of herself. She was just a little bit taller and her hair was darker. Her skin was fair and blemish free. The portrait version of herself scowled at her gaping, scoffed and crossed her arms indignantly. Ariana was in awe. She couldn't express her gratitude to Susie, all that came out was, "Where did you learn to do that?" Susie laughed at her surprise and said, "A wizarding art class I took last year! They taught us this but I could never get one to speak. That's really advanced magic..."

They quieted down, lest they be fussed at or lose points for Ravenclaw. The class ended quickly thereafter, with one student temporarily left a toddler when his potion to age failed but his partners potion to make him young again worked. His partner had to carry both of their things and threw the child over his shoulder and took him to their dormitory to recover. Snape would have taken way points but he had to struggle to regain the students attention as they were all in hysterics. He dismissed the students and they all clamored out of the dungeons with their things. Susie and Ariana did not have enough time between classes to return their books to their dormitories and ready themselves for the next class, Ancient Runes with the Slytherins.

Susie arranged her hair as neatly as she could before entering the class. Ariana wanted to remind her that when they both smelled like skinned Niffters, no one was going to care what their hair looked like.

As Susie suspected, Cassius was already sitting in the room. He had a younger Slytherin backup player with him and there was a Slytherin girl cooing over him. Susie paid no mind, confident in herself she sauntered past them and sat farther back in the classroom. Ariana saw Cassius' attention wander from the Slytherin girl to Susie as she passed him. Ariana followed, slightly dejected as it was very difficult to see the board from so far away. "I'll bring a telescope next time so I can see the board…" said Ariana, shooting a disgruntled look at Susie as she sat down. Susie laughed. Susie and Cassius didn't say a word that class period. Ariana took her notes and followed along. Ancient Runes was much more interesting than she had expected. She reveled in it, it was like learning a whole new language. As quickly as it began the first Ancient Runes was over and they were packing their bags. Susie and Ariana, now quite exhausted, rushed on to their last class of the day, Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Unlike their first class on Friday, Monday classes took up two whole periods. Professor Lupin spent the first half of the class lecturing on how to know what type of spell your opponent will cast next by his body language, and how to prepare for it. He spent the second half of the class demonstrating with a Gryffindor student, Thomas Lingwud. He instructed Thomas to attack, anything attack he wanted to use, and the Professor defended. He would then explain how he knew what type of attach it was.

"The truth is you must know your charms and hexes well and then you can recognize them by the casters hand movements. That's all it comes down too. Broader and more elaborate wand strokes are indicative of a more complex spell. Defensive spells are more intensive than attacks as they usually require more control." he glanced at Ariana who was towards the front of the class. "This may explain why some of you may experience more difficulties with defensive spells. A destructive spells goal is to expel as much force and magic as possible whereas a defensive spell must refine and control that power. Truly the most powerful witch or wizard is one who is good at both attacks and defensive spells." Just then the bell rang, signaling the end of the last period. "You are all dismissed. For homework, read chapter 2 of the textbook and bring me a two paged essay on the categories of defensive spells we've discussed thus far." There were some disgruntled murmurs from that class but Professor Lupin just chuckled. "Yes, Yes I know..I know. Just do it!"

The Ariana and Susie, now nearly dead on their feet, walked as quickly towards dinner as they could, which may have been described as a crawl at best. They slowly ate their dinner with their books out in front of them. Susie, finishing her Muggle Studies homework and Ariana beginning her History of Magic homework. At 6:30 exactly, their plates completely disappeared. Susie and Ariana, and a few other Ravenclaws continued their work in the Great Hall until Professor Flitwick, though greatly impressed with the dedication they had for their education, asked them to leave. It was nearly curfew so they dragged themselves up to their dormitories and collapsed into their beds, but not after Ariana hung the photo of her twenty-five hear old self on the wall next to her bed.

* * *

**Next Chapter: A Double-Trouble Headache**


	3. Chapter 3 - A Double-Trouble Headache

**Chapter 3 - A Double-Trouble Headache**

The sun seemed to come up two hours earlier than usual. Ariana woke and felt as if she had not slept at all. They squirmed out of bed and slowly made their way to breakfast then on to their first Charms class with Hufflepuff. They sat in the front of the room as Professor Flitwick reviewed the Charms they had learned in previous years. This was a great help to Ariana, as she did not attend those years and could practice the spells she wasn't familiar with. Once they finished reviewing he gave them a formal introduction.

"Hello, and welcome to your fifth year! Here is something to sweeten you all up!"

With a wave of his wand a platter, nearly hidden among the piles of papers on his desk, opened. Then with another wave delicious chocolate cupcakes with swirls of every color began floating across the room, doing a little jig as they flew. They swirled around midair in the middle of the class room and began a sort of synchronized routine. The class erupted in laughter and applause. After a short dance they each came down in front of a student.

"May I remind you, my office is always open to any Ravenclaw who needs me and if you're not a Ravenclaw -well let's hope I like you!" the class erupted in another wave of laughter. "If a Cheering charm won't brighten your spirits then perhaps I can teach you a hex that will...no. I'm only joking -but I can give you more cupcakes!"

When Charms class was over they trekked on to grab a bite to eat for lunch before hurrying on to Transfiguration. Ariana realized if spent like this, her time at Hogwarts would fly by.

When they arrived many of the seats were already taken and Professor McGonagall sat at her desk, fingers crossed in front of her and a stern look on her face. The room had high ceilings and large windows showing out towards the courtyard. Susie and Ariana chose seats towards the back of the room, with a good view out of the windows. They sat patiently as Professor McGonagall called roll during the start of class. She quickly called off the names on the list and stopped towards the bottom of the list to glance around. In a very disappointed tone she said, "Fred and George Weasley aren't here, of course..." she tutted and marked them absent.

Without warning a bizarre giggle echoed curiously through the quiet room. It was a strange and muted sound and all heads turned towards the back of the room to find the culprit. It sounded as if it were coming from right behind Ariana. She glanced around, and even under her desk but she found nothing of note. A few seconds later, another giggle sounded, but from a different point in the room; somewhere behind Susie. Again all heads were turned towards the back of the room while Ariana and Susie glanced at each other questioningly.

Suddenly a great popping noise erupted in the room, it was so loud that it echoed off the high ceilings and before she even had a chance to move, Ariana's seat gave way. She plummeted to the floor with a soft yelp and she regretted choosing to wear a skirt as her legs flew skyward and she landed very ungracefully on the back of her neck. Her books, quill and ink scattered across the classroom, and in particular, all over Susie blouse. The students burst into laughter as Ariana lay stunned on the floor gaping, and suddenly tangled up with a boy.

_It was one of those redheaded twins! _

First she embarrassed herself in front of them, then they grab her in Defense Against the Dark Arts, now this?

Susie, now stained from head to toe with blotches from Ariana's bottle of ink, stood from her chair to help Ariana just as her chair popped and transfigured back into the second twin. They had disguised themselves as two classroom chairs in the back of the room. They had held their transfiguration for nearly five minutes which in retrospect was beyond impressive, although it wasn't at the time.

The Weasley twins glanced at each other and burst into a raucous laughter. Even Professor McGonagall gave a short chuckle. She was very pleased to see such a strong example of human transfiguration, and from her own house! Yes, very pleased indeed! Although she had to constrain her amusement.

"Why'd you have to go and sit in_ our_ chairs!" "Yea! We were going to hide until Professor McGonagall walked back here, then we were going to scare the hat off of her!" Both boys were jesting and teasing Susie and Ariana yet both of the girls were quite miffed at their little joke. For one, now everyone in the classroom knew the color of Ariana's undies. She was quite abashed and her face was glowing red and she fiddled self-consciously with her skirt. Susie stood in front of Ariana with her arms crossed in front of her. She was absolutely glowering, and dripping with ink. The expression on her face was so severe the rest of the class stopped chortling very quickly.

One twin looked at the other and said, "Gee Fred, why'd you have to go and giggle, huh?"

Fred responded with, "How can you have a girl sitting on you and NOT giggle!"

The class erupted into another fit of laughter.

George, being the first of the twins to realize the impromptu victims of their joke were less than pleased, spoke first, "Sorry," he said hesitantly and sincerely. "We didn't think there would be this many people in class. We...didn't plan on anyone sitting on us." At this the other twin, Fred, couldn't restrain himself any longer, he snorted and burst into another fit of laughter, much to the chagrin of the girls.

"Alright now! Alright now! That's enough." shouted Professor McGonagall and she had to shout over the twins continued raucous. Ariana, nearly deaf with anger, only heard snippets but she caught the word 'firm' and had to resist throwing her book at one of them. Professor McGonagall continued, "Let's all get back to our coursework. Back in your seats!"

Ariana sat down as far from her ill-fated original chair as possible, up against the classroom wall and Susie sat in the chair next to her, still fuming and dripping with black ink. Neither of them so much as even looked at the twins, Susie was too angry and Ariana was too embarrassed.

Both Fred and George were feeling very contrite about the whole thing. They usually planned their jokes with other people in mind, so that no one was wounded by their antics. They often said 'it isn't funny if someone gets hurt. Unless that was the joke….' Perhaps this reason, and their skillful use of magic, persuaded the teachers to let them get away with some of their gags.

Both of the boys retreated to the storage closet in the back of the room and retrieved their chairs. They sat down as class began and pulled out their quills and parchment. Of course, instead of listening to the lecture they immediately began planning more mischief, but this time in hopes that it would humor the two cross Ravenclaw girls across from them. George, obviously being the more sincerely apologetic one, wrote a short note asking for their forgiveness. Once the ink dried he folded it into a small paper airplane. He was just about to shoot it across the room when Fred grabbed it, and re-folded it. He toiled with it for a short while and waved his wand and whispered quietly. The paper was no longer a paper airplane; when he threw it into the air it was in the shape of a butterfly that flapped its wings to propel itself across the room. Quickly getting carried away with the idea, George gently grabbed it from its flight and waved his wand a little, causing small translucent hearts to flutter in the wake of the flap of it's paper wings. The boys, and two other Gryffindor students, who was seated directly in front of them, were quietly chortling. They released their creation and it fluttered towards Susie and Adriana. Both girls completely ignored them and their butterfly as it approached. As soon as it was in front of Susie, she raised her wand to it and glared back at them as the butterfly burst into flames and fell, fluttering to her desk. She quickly scraped the ashes from her desk and returned her attention to Professor McGonagall.

Ariana spent the class lost in her thoughts on how silly she had become recently. She was suddenly regretting the last few days. It was silly of her to take the Hogwarts Express just because she wanted to experience it, despite the fact that she was already at Hogwarts. It was silly to be interested in those wizarding candies, it was silly that she held up her wand and ever so dangerous _Pepper Imps_ like she could defend herself or anyone else from a flobberworm, let alone something like a dementor. It was silly of her to be so embarrassed because of a boy. It was silly she cared about what the other students thought about her. Ariana felt like a completely different witch since she'd come here. She was never scared, or nervous or embarrassed before. She was left wondering what changed?

She had also never struggled with charms before. Transfiguration was completely new to her but she had been doing charms all of her life. However she knew what brought about that change…Perhaps it had made her lose her confidence? That sounded too lame for her to believe.

Suddenly a bell rang throughout the school, signaling the end of their morning classes. Ariana realized she had not paid attention all class. She had not taken a single note, not that she even had any ink left anyway, it was currently dried in blotches all over Susie's grey and blue Ravenclaw vest.

Most of the students rushed for the door as soon as the bell rung, Professor McGonagall called out the them as they elbowed each other, jockeying for the door, "I want a two thousand word essay on the difficulties of trans-species transfiguration from each of you on my desk by next class!"

As soon as the last word left Professor McGonagall's mouth, Susie quickly and quietly rose from her chair and was out the door. Ariana hastily gathered her books together and rushed after her. She caught up with her in the hallway.

"Are you alright?" Ariana had barely gotten the words out when she got a response she wasn't prepared for. "I hate them!", she shouted, "JERKS!". Susie's face which was completely flaccid before, was now scrunched up in anger. Ariana was impressed by her passion, considering her anger didn't waiver even after nearly two hours of class. They didn't speak much until they got back to Ravenclaw Tower. They both rushed up the girls dormitory stairs and as soon as they were in their room Susie slammed her things on her bed and buried her face in her pillow. Ariana began rummaging through her trunk for her Charms book and began vigorously flipping through it. "Ah!" she exclaimed, "Here it is!" Ariana rushed to Susie with her wand out and gave it a flip, pointing towards her stained vest, "_Adsparsus abitus_!"

Nothing happened.

Ariana repeated once more, but with more force and a little more flick of the wrist, "_ADSPARSUS ABITUS_!" and the ink began to slowly fade away from Susie's vest. Susie gave her a weak smile.

"You need to hurry to your Arithmancy class before you end up being late!" said Ariana. She grabbed a stack of books she had prepared the night before and hurried out of the dormitory. Ariana also grabbed her books and rushed out of the dormitory. She had Care of Magical Creatures class and she was on the sixth floor of the Ravenclaw Tower. Care of Magical Creatures class met far away, outside Hagrid's hut.

She rushed down the many flights of stairs, nearly falling a few times. She nearly ran through Peeves, whom she had never seen before. She skirted past him as he tried to flip her skirt. A Prefect tried to slow her down but she hurtled past him. She ran out to the hut just as the class was beginning. It was then that it dawned on her that her Charms book was not going to help her care for magical creatures. She had also left the dormatory without her cloak and it was quite frigid outside. Her thin long sleeve shirt and Ravenclaw vest did not do very much to warm her from the biting wind. She was covered in sweat from her run and she was quickly becoming chilled. After the five minutes it took to call roll she was positively freezing. Her fingers were already numb and her teeth were chattering. She looked around at the people she would be having class with for the rest of the semester. She didn't see many Ravenclaws and it was too crowded to see much else…except for two brightly colored red thatches of hair hovering just over the other heads in the crowd of students. The Weasley Twins. Ariana wanted to quit. Then and there. She wanted to go lock herself in the dungeon. At least she could be successful there.

"Now, now! Quiet down you all. Today we're going to start off by dealing with some Flesh Eattin' Drubbleworms- but they won't 'urt you!" he quickly added as he saw their shocked faces. "It's okay. They only eat children or somethin' smaller, you lot are too big." and he began to walk away as if that was reason to take comfort. Before he got far he stopped and addressed them again, "but mind your hands…right then…" he walked over to two large crate.

"So 'ho read their chapter for this week's class?" No one raised their hand so Ariana had to; she had read the chapter. In fact she had finished the whole book.

She liked Hagrid, even if he was a bit strange and she liked magical creatures above all else. Even though the way he said it wasn't that great, a Drubbleworm really won't hurt you if you care for them the correct way, it said so in the _Monster Book of Monsters_. "Ah, good then! Ariana was it?" She nodded silently, hoping she could go unnoticed, especially from the twins….especially because her friend set their note on fire...and because she had sat on one of them.

"Alrighty then! Come show us how to feed 'um!"

Her jaw nearly fell to the floor. So much for not being noticed..

She summoned up her courage, suddenly feeling particularly alone being one of nearly no Ravenclaws among Gryffindors. She moved her feet but they felt like lead, she wasn't sure if it was because of anxiety, fatigue or frostbite setting in. Hagrid had two wooden crates in front of him, a sack of meat and a bucket that was actually sizzling and steam rose from it. Ariana grabbed the sack of meat and emptied it into the bucket, careful not to splash any. The meat began to thrash around as it soaked in the bucket.

"That's right! These boxes have the young'uns in it. If it were the big 'uns you wouldn't be able to fit them in these boxes." he chuckled. "But they also like to stay in the dark. To feed 'um you have to soak the meat in acid like their 'mum 'ould do in her mouth or they won't eat it."

There was a wave of disgruntlement throughout the students, flesh eating worms AND acid in one day?

Ariana wanted to point out that the reason you did it this way was they would otherwise mistake the meat for a threat and attack you and the meat. That was a really important concern to note.

Once he was done talking she flipped the box over and tried to pry it open at which point Hagrid assisted and easily ripped a side off. "Good! Good! Tha's right! You flip the box to disorient them and open it-" She picked up the soaking meat and poured it into the box. Steam rose from the box and with it so did a very rancid smell and the sizzling sound increased. A few people gasped.

"Exactly!" and Hagrid shut the side of the box. The juvenile Flesh Eating Drubbleworms began to violently eat the soaked meats, the crate began thrashing around.

"Ten points to Ravenclaw! Good job!" he patted her on the back so roughly she nearly fell over.

After a few moments of silence there was a scattered and halfhearted applause . Someone towards the back of the crowd loudly said, "She must be related to Granger.." There were a few chuckles towards the back of the group. Not knowing who 'Granger' was Ariana ignored it. She started to rejoin the group of students when Hagrid stopped her, "Wh'urs ur cloak? It's too cold fur you to be walkin' 'round here without your cloak on. 'ere!" Hagrid lifted the moleskin overcoat off of his shoulders. Ariana took three steps at a sprint to try to out run it but he was too large and too quick. He threw his large, smelly moleskin overcoat over her shoulders. It was as if a circus tent had collapsed on her, her knees buckled under the weight of it. Different inner pockets were moving around suspiciously, almost as if there were mice in them. She tried not to think about it. She also tried not to hear the muted laughter from the Gryffindors surrounding her.

"No, Hagrid, that's much too big for her!" a muted voice spoke but Ariana couldn't see. She groped around for a way out but someone lifted the coat off of her. Of course. One of the twins. He pulled flaps of the large and heavy coat away from her and she had emerged face-to-face with him. She gulped. He dragged the rest of the coat way from her and handed it back to Hagrid. "Here, she can take my cloak!" and in one motion the twin twirled off his cloak very deftly and swung it around her shoulders. The class filled with whistling and jeering. "OOOOOoooohh" they said.

Ariana was ready to burst. She was so flushed her face was painfully burning.

"Now, now Weasley save that kind of stuff for after class!" laughed Hagrid. Hagrid then drew the class over closer to the box of Drubbleworms so that they could get a closer look, one by one while the worms were distracted. Ariana stood, feet rooted in place. She couldn't look the twin in the eye so she just stared directly in front of her, towards his chest. A few Gryffindors, including the second twin and their friend Lee Jordon stuck around to watch the two.

"Well Ariana, 'Ari' ! We meet again!" she couldn't say anything and he chuckled and shook her by her shoulders and continued, "Hey, how'd you get to know so much about worms, eh Ari?"

"Well, I met you…." she spoke softly but quickly. He wasn't necessarily being mean, but she couldn't help it. She didn't know what to do and it just slipped out, not that it was particularly witty... There was an awkward pause then the second twin burst out laughing, he was bent over howling, nearly rolling on the ground. Lee Jordan was right along with him.

The twin before her was not laughing. "Well…Still angry, are we? That's fine. Just please, don't shoot fire at me!" then he tapped her on the nose with his forefinger and followed the others towards Hagrid as they hollered, "Come on, Fred!"

Ariana stood there biting her lip and mentally screaming at herself.

Ariana felt a soft pat on her back. "It's okay.." she turned to see a Gryffindor girl smiling at her. "They're always like that; insufferable, both of them. Nothing personal."

Ariana grimaced and let out a big sigh. The girl laughed, "Come on!" She pulled her over towards the other students. "I'm Angelina Johnson, by the way!"

As soon as Hagrid uttered his last word Ariana turned and headed for the Hogwarts Greenhouse as fast as she could for her last class of the day; Herbology with the Slytherins. She made it to the greenhouse in record time and since she was alone she squatted down behind the greenhouse and covered her face in her hands. She wasn't crying- she hadn't cried since she was a child. However she did feel like apparating and never disapparating. The sleeves of her cloak were too long she reached out and couldn't catch the end of them so she bunched them all together and buried her face in them again. Her cloak wa-her cloak?

She bolted upright and looked at her outstretched arms. The fabric hung off the tip of her fingers by nearly twenty centimeters and the inner lining was crimson red. She quickly flung the cloak off of her and held it in front of her. A bright red lion sigil stared back at her. She screamed in frustration.

She quickly folded the cloak neatly and hid it behind a bush, worried someone would start rumors, then rushed into the greenhouse. A few students had already arrived so she grabbed a station and awaited the arrival of Susie.

Fred stared as the brown headed girl quickly darting off with his one and only cloak. "Do you think she knows I only meant for her to barrow it?" Fred and George Weasley both laughed.

Susie arrived late, with Cassius in tow carrying her books. They had Arithmancy together. Ariana normally wouldn't mind but she really wanted to talk to Susie. They started class together but Ariana didn't have a chance to speak to Susie privately. When Professor Sprout told them to divide into groups, she thought she was going to get her chance, but Cassius asked Susie to be his partner. Out of earshot, she asked, "Do you mind? If you want me to partner with you…that's fine!" "No," Ariana smiled. "Go on!"

Susie was so excited and gave a little squeal. She rushed off to join Cassius the Quidditch star.

Ariana paired with a quiet, strange and scrawny Slytherin boy named Benjamin Edenhimer. Ariana scoffed at herself, 'Who am I? I'm just as weird and friendless as him!' They worked together silently refilling watering cans for other groups to water the greenhouse plants. They had to be careful around the Silent Creeper plant by the door, as it liked to whip them as they walked past. By the end of Herbology Ariana's arms were shaking and painfully tired. So was her aching head. Professor Sprout called it a day and they slowly trekked back to the castle. Ariana walked back alone while Susie slowly strolled along with her new beau.

Too tired to be hungry, Ariana went straight back to the dormitory. She threw herself on her large comfy bed and quickly drifted into a deep slumber.

When she woke the sun had long gone. She checked her clock, it was nearly three in the morning. She had slept for ten hours straight, unglamorously slumped across her bed. Around her everyone was fast asleep in their bed so Ariana decided to do some homework since she was already so well rested. She twirled around looking for her cloak. Her cloak…..

Fred Weasley's cloak was still behind a bush by the greenhouses! Ariana flailed and kicked the air silently in frustration. She wished she could have given herself a good kick in the rear! How dull could she get? She needed to get that back to him as soon as possible. She didn't want to have to explain that she hid it because she was embarrassed someone would get the wrong idea. Ariana had to get Fred back his cloak as soon as possible and that would be by breakfast time.

She found her cloak nestled in her trunk. She grabbed her wand and slowly crept out of the dormitory and into the common room. She decided to go after the cloak. She could grab it and get it back to him at breakfast. She only had to worry about Filch as the Dementors only patrolled the boarders of Hogwarts, she was just going to the greenhouse and back, that wasn't even as far as Hagrid's hut.

She slowly opened the common room door and peered outside. It was dark and cold so she pulled her cloak around her and steeled herself for her task she was about to undertake, and the rules she was about to break - but honestly, what did it matter? She put a slippered foot on the ground and the door knocker sounded, "You should not be out of bed!" it shrieked painfully loud. The sound resonated off the walls but being in the Ravenclaw tower, Ariana figured there was no one was there to hear it. A rude hand gesture was the response the door knocker got. He in turn, sounded indignant, "No need for all that now…"

She stepped out and let the door close behind her. She slowly tiptoed down the spiral staircase and at the bottom she came face to face with the Grey Lady. The ghost gave her a stern look but didn't say anything. How many people - or rather _beings_, was she going to run into tonight? Well, if she wasn't fussing or alerting someone, she might as well be helping.

"What's the quickest path to the greenhouse?" Ariana asked. "The quickest way is a straight line. However the safest way…" she paused, knowing she shouldn't be helping a student break the rules. Reluctantly she continued, "The safest way is down the corridor to the Clock Tower then down to the grounds and across the far end of the field.." she gave a small smile then added, "Be quiet around the Hospital Wing….Madam Pomfrey will hear you.."

That was all Ariana needed. She pulled the hood up on her cloak and walked swiftly but silently down the hall and to the corridor. Her comfy bed slippers flopped softly against the stone floors as she walked. Her bed slippers had bunny ears - Dumbledore's doing. The corridor was lined with suits of armor holding big swords in their outstretched arms. Once she reached the corridor she sprinted across, wanting to avoid straight and narrow places in case she ran into Mr. Filch or any other unwanted onlookers like Peeves or a teacher. She reached the end of the corridor with no incident, then began to descend the spiral staircase, being careful not to lose her footing. She reached the ground floor. Peeking around the corner she saw no one so sprinted down towards the door, her confidence growing with each step. She slowly cracked the door and slipped outside. The freezing morning air hit her harshly. The morning was still black as night and it was eerily silent but she could see this view from her window and her feet knew exactly where to go. She sprinted out of the courtyard, keeping close to the edge which was lined with large and mossy stone columns. She set foot on dewy grass and ran towards the greenhouses. She was out of breath when she got there but sure enough the cloak was right where she'd left it. It was slightly damp from the nights dew. She grabbed it in her arms and tucked it under her cloak carefully.

She glanced around to see if anyone was near.

Spotting no one she quickly began her retreat. Ariana hung towards the far side of the grounds so Filch couldn't spot her moving from a window. She took cover under a large tree and she planned to make a sprint for the courtyard ahead. To her right, Hagrid's hut glowed with the light of a fireplace. Suddenly she heard large husky barks ringing out across the early morning air. Fang, Hagrid's dog, was awake. The tree above her began to creak eerily but Ariana thought nothing of it, her mind starting to race and the hairs on the back of her neck began to stand on end. She had a fleeting thought of Dementors but reminded herself they were far away on the far reaches of the Hogwarts grounds. She checked once more to make sure the coast was clear and she ducked from under the tree and made a run for it back towards the courtyard, Fred's cloak in hand. The tree behind her groaned and twisted so drastically she turned back to look at it in confusion. An icy chill went down her spine as the realization set it. The tree's long and willowy branches were moving frantically as if searching….This was not just any tree. She turned and ran as fast as her feet could take her. The Whomping Willow swung its heavy branches and smacked the ground with a deafening boom right beside her. She was scratched by a few of the smaller branches but for the most part the tree had missed. The ground shook below her and Ariana struggled to keep her balance. She ran on as fast as she could, stepping over branches as she went. Fang was now barking frantically and a few lights in the castle above her turned on. The Whomping Willow lifted its branches up again, recoiling for a second attack. As the small branches were pulled out from under her feet she stumbled and caught herself on her hands and knees. Ariana clutched tightly to the cloak and jumped up and began to sprint again. Almost steps away from safety, the Whomping Willow swung its whip like branches down again, the tips of which slashed at her back and legs. She screamed in agony as it ripped the cloth of her cloak. She could feel the blood trickling down her skin. She fell just out of reach of the trees branches, Fred Weasley's cloak strewn across the grass before her now covered in dirt and full of holes from the blade-like leaves.

Pain shot down her legs as she tried to stand again. The lashes left by the tree burned like acid. Chuckling darkly as she thought, 'they're just really big paper cuts.' She grabbed the cloak and limped as fast as she could towards the courtyard. She was dripping blood all over the ground and Fred's cloak as she walked. Ariana took shelter under the awning of one of the great, mossy columns in the courtyard, her back to the entrance to the Clock Tower. She crouched down, surveying the damage via the light from the castle windows. Her leg was sliced into ribbons and her back felt as if it were in a similar state. She clenched her jaw to stop herself from making a sound.

With a big groan the large doors of the castle were forced open behind her. Ariana quickly glanced and saw the unmistakable silhouette of Argus Filch. She ducked her head low so he wouldn't spot her. He quickly ran past her down the courtyard. She shot up and ran, limping for the door. Ariana was hoping she could sneak in while he was facing the opposite direction. She ran, clutching the cloak to her chest, she reached out for the great door handle and forced it open. She was halfway inside when she heard the great shriek from Filch's beloved cat, Mrs. Norris. It was standing in the middle of the courtyard staring at her. She slipped inside as Filch ran back up to the courtyard cursing. She fled. Despite the agony it caused her, she had never run so furiously in her life. She was desperate not to get caught. What would happen? Would she be kicked out? They warned the students not to wander out at night because of the escaped convict. What would Dumbledore think? What if he thought she was trying to consort with him?

She didn't want to find out the answer.

A part of her also didn't want to see him disappointed.

She ran across the atrium and up the stairs she was taking them two at a time but stumbling on every other one. She grabbed on to the railings with all the might she had left. Small drops of blood were still falling from her back and legs. She reached the top of the flight of stairs and could hear Filch screaming below her.

"STUDENT OUT OF BED!_ GET BACK HERE_! STUDENT OUT OF BED!" She sprinted past the hospital wing and towards the corridor with the suits of armor. Her grip on the cloak was loosening in weakness. It slipped slightly in her hands and covered her face as she ran. Ariana snatched if from her face and held on tighter. She streaked down the corridor with Fred's cloak billowing behind her.

Nearly halfway down the corridor the cloak caught one of the swords that were being held by the suits of armors decorating the walls. Ariana didn't stop. She yanked the cloak down. Ariana was filled with dread as it made a great ripping noise. It was difficult to hear the thing she had been going through so much toil to get being torn to shreds. Staggering, she threw herself to the other side of the hallway but with too much force. A few steps later the cloak was snagged on another suit of armor and this time Ariana fell to the floor and painfully slid a few meters away. She jumped up and spun around to go back after the cloak but froze when she saw Filches silhouette emerging on the other end of the corridor. She paused, running though all of her options. She could make it to the cloak before Filch but he would be able to catch her, or at lease see her running into Ravenclaw Tower. After a second of deliberation, she turned and fled, abandoning Fred's cloak as it swung from the sword of a suit of armor.

Her feet carried her around the corner and up the flight of stairs. She reached the door that led to the Ravenclaw Common room and knocked. Now all she had to do was solve the riddle quickly and disappear into the common room. How would anyone know it was her who had snuck out? She was glad to see the trail of blood she had tracked through the lower halls had stopped somewhere below this landing.

"How do you make seven even?"

She ransacked her mind, going through all possible meanings. "seven…..even….even…S! You take away the 'S'!"

The door swung open to let her in. She clambered into it and shut it quickly behind her and she hear it mutter, "What's the rush?" She pressed her ear to the door to listen for any sign of Filch but heard none. She limped up to her dormitory, empty handed and aching horribly.

* * *

**Next Chapter: Consequences of One's Actions**


	4. Chapter 4 - Consequences of One's Action

**Chapter 4 - Consequences of One's Actions**

Ariana was awoken a few hours later by Susie's astonished face. She stood above her with her mouth gaping. Ariana was draped across her bed, covered from head to toe in either blood, dirt or her tattered clothes. With her consciousness came the reminiscence of her injuries. She groaned. Susie grabbed her wand and began using a healing charms on her.

"I can't fix this, but it may help…" she said.

The scratches and scrapes on her back and legs burned but they hurt even more with the healing spell. She tried to stay as still as possible. "What the HELL did you get yourself into?" "The Whomping Willow…," Ariana told Susie the whole story with every bit of detail she could remember. When she got to the end, the part where Fred's cloak was hanging from a suit of armor, Susie gasped, "What are you going to do?" " I don't know…" said Ariana. Honestly the most pressing thing on her mind was eating as the last time she ate was lunch the day before.

"Let's just go to breakfast for now?" said Ariana questioningly.

"We've nearly missed it. Let's just finish getting you cleaned up."

Ariana wanted to argue but didn't have the energy. Besides neither of them had finished their essay for Transfiguration. Ariana spent the next two hours writing her essay and once she'd finished hers she began to write Susie's for her. "_Effingo conscriptio aequabilitas." _Susie said as she waved her wand and Ariana's sloppy handwriting melted on the page to become like the soft looping script that belonged to Susie. Susie diligently healed on as best she could. Once she was exhausted they prepared their bags for Transfiguration. They were headed down the Grand Staircase when they heard someone shouting after them. "Oi! Oi!," it was Angelina Johnson, the Gryffindor girl Ariana met in class the day before. She was a floor above them and came running down to meet them.

"Do you…." her words failed her, "Did you hear about Fred and George?"

Susie and Ariana exchanged remorseful glances and shook their heads 'no'.

"Well! They both got dragged out of the dormitories by Professor McGonagall, Filch and Snape. They're saying Fred and George snuck out last night and they gave them detention for a week!"

Susie exchanged a dismayed glance with Ariana and she frantically tried to decide the best course of action.

Angelina continued, "They're saying that Filch chased them through the halls last night but they couldn't have been, they were busy sneaking food from the kitchens. Filch said they found one of their cloaks in the corridor by the clock tower…" she trailed off questioningly.

"But how could they know it was Fred's cloak?" exclaimed Ariana. She didn't think anyone could figure that out. She thought she would just have to buy them another cloak as reimbursement.

"It was Snape..he used a Tale-Tell potion didn't he?" asked Susie, "he got a hair or something but he can't tell which twin it is!"

"He's always jumping at the chance to get a Gryffindor in trouble.." huffed Angelina begrudgingly, "They are just assuming they would have been together…."

"I'll go tell Mr. Filch it was me…." said Ariana.

"They don't have detention until next week so that works out! But…maybe you shouldn't talk to the twins until they've calmed down a bit…just some advice…. And..what were you even doing running around at night with Fred's cloak anyways?" Angelina asked gawkily.

Ariana flushed, realizing it sounded excessively strange and the other two girls laughed. She explained herself as they all walked on to Transfiguration. Ariana showed Angelina her wounds from the Whomping Willow and she gushed, " I think I heard that last night! It sounded like an earthquake! Looks bloody awful." "It looked worst this morning!" Susie informed her. She had healed it quite a bit, Ariana could walk without limping now, but the wounds still ached.

Transfiguration class was particularly difficult for Ariana but Susie excelled, as always. The Weasley twins were not in class. Angelina assured them this was normal, although they may still be arguing with Filch and Snape somewhere in the dungeons.

Class dragged on for what seemed like forever. When they were released it wasn't without a large heap of homework. Once the bell rang Susie shot off towards the door, too hungry and too excited by the prospects of a double class period with Cassius to wait . Ariana stayed back to confess to Professor McGonagall, considering after all that she was the head of house for Gryffindor and Angelina mentioned she was there this morning when the Weasley twins were dragged from their dormitories. Angelina gave Ariana a wink as she left the classroom.

As Ariana approached Professor McGonagall's desk she cast a stern look upwards.

"Ah, Miss Flamel, just the person I wanted to see…" she said ominously. Ariana began to panic, wondering how much trouble she'd be in for sneaking out at night. Professor Dumbledore had specifically told them not to because of the added dementors at the gates of the school grounds.

"I'm sorry professor! I should have just waited till morning! It was very silly of me. I won't ever do it again. I am so sorry, professor!"

There was an awkward pause and realizing they were talking about two separate issues, Professor McGonagall cocked her head to one side, "Go on.."

Realizing the same thing Ariana moaned, wondering what else Professor McGonagall could want with her.

"Go on." she commanded strictly, noting Ariana's hesitation. Figuring she had to tell her anyway she continued, "Professor, it was me who was out of the dormitory last night. Not the Weasley Twins."

Seeming genuinely surprised, all Professor McGonagall said was, "Oh?"

Ariana grimaced. If the only consequence she would get was a weeks' worth of detention that would be easy enough. But what if they though she was up to something worse than just a little bit of trouble? She had the feeling that Dumbledore was still keeping a close eye on her. They weren't exactly close.

"I'm sorry Professor. I won't do it again. And the Weasley Twins weren't with me at all."

"Care to explain what Mr. Filch found on the fifth floor corridor?" she asked, testing her.

"It was Fred Weasley's cloak. He lent it to me in Care of Magical Creatures class. I was getting it, I had forgotten it behind the greenhouses. You can ask anyone from Care of Magical Creatures class - the whole class saw him give it to me." She blushed deeply remembering the incident. " And I got hit by the Whomping Willow and tracked blood all over the castle." She pulled down the high socks she'd worn and showed the professor her wounds. "If you would have tested the bloodstains they would have been mine. Susie said Professor Snape may have used a Tale-tell Potion so you must have gotten a hair from the cloak, but if you would have tested the blood- " "Susanna Thompson was in on this?" "No, Professor. I told her afterwards."

"Hmn. So you're saying you're the only one responsible? Well I'm afraid you may have to convince Professor Snape of the Weasley's innocence. He was the one that gave them detention so I can't take it away. I can put in a good word for them though. However, confessing doesn't change the fact that you'll have a weeks' worth of detention as well. What I wanted to talk to you about was _this." _Professor McGonagall pulled out a piece of parchment filled with Susie's curving script - the essay Ariana had written this morning. "I know a charm when I see one. This one _was _ convincing but it is still very much against the rules to write someone else's essay. Confessing will help you here…"

Ariana donned on her most pitiful expression and confessed to that as well.

"I will only give you one days detention for this. But I will expect a rewrite from both of you and a five page essay on the negative effects of cheating from you by next class." Professor McGonagall returned to the papers stacked in front of her.

"Yes ma'am.." Ariana quickly scurried away. She closed the classroom door behind her and glanced back at it in disbelief. She had failed to get the Weasley's out of their detention and instead she had gotten herself _**eight days**_ of detention and_ two essays_!? What luck...

Perhaps she would have more luck reasoning with Professor Snape. And maybe Cassius could help with that?

Ariana ran down to lunch and found Susie saving her a seat. They quickly ate, both were absolutely famished. Susie finished first and rose, " I'm going to go ahead to Herbology- see you there!" Ariana smiled and said farewell. For a moment Ariana glanced at the Gryffindor table and saw the twins sitting there very disgruntled. She remembered that Angelina told her not to speak to them till they calmed down. They weren't facing her but she knew they would not be happy to hear from her. This time _they _were the ones who were spitting fire.

Ariana decided to ask Cassius to show them the Slytherin dungeons. Susie would like that and she may would _accidentally _run into Snape and be able to get on his good side as a friend of an important member of his Quidditch team.

She finished eating and walked to the greenhouses. The greenhouses were particularly warm and had a very pungent odor - the Romanian Dragon's Whip's were in bloom. Ariana would like it if she were more entertained by the class itself. She found it was hard to be excited by plants. Yet Susie was practically jumping up and down when Ariana arrived. She ran up too her and grabbed her arm. "Ariana! Quidditch season is starting soon and Cassius said we should come watch him practice! Wanna go?" "Sure!...but I thought you said you didn't care too much about Quidditch Susie…" Ariana laughed. "Hey Cassius!" Ariana greeted him sweetly. "Hey. " he drawled coolly. Susie was beaming at him. She didn't take her eyes off of him. Professor Sprout began her lecture at the front of the class as they hung towards the back. "Hey, Cassius…Do you think you can show us the Slytherin Dungeons? I've been wondering what they're like." She tried to sound as sweet as possible. You can catch more flies with honey after all….

He shot a questioning look at her and grinned a devilish grin. Susie was literally patting her on the back and smiling from ear to ear. "Sure. Why are you asking?" "Well, when I got here I thought I was going to end up in Slytherin. I like the Potions room but I was wondering if the rest of the Dungeons were like that too.." she trailed off. "Nah, they're really nice! It's luxurious. Lots of gaudy decorations and a lot warmer."

They chit chatted through class and the time flew by. He invited them again to watch him practice Quidditch. He was a chaser and he hoped he could play professionally someday. He was nice enough and he was definitely attractive but Ariana was slightly bored by him. Maybe it was because she _actually_ didn't care about Quidditch. They agreed that they would visit the Slytherin Dungeons after their Astronomy class that night. Ariana prepared herself and her defense of the Weasley twins she was going to throw at Professor Snape.

Once Professor Sprout was done lecturing they hurried out of the greenhouses. Susie and Cassius walked off to Arithmancy while Ariana walked across the grounds by herself, to Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures. She was hopping the Weasley's wouldn't confront her. Angelina spent all of her time with them and Ariana got the feeling that she had explained everything to them. She was grateful. For today's lesson they were caring for Hippogriffs. They were proud and strong and very beautiful. Ariana was wide-eyed over them. Hagrid called Angelina to greet them first and she bravely trekked out towards it. Although she was hesitant, it accepted her and allowed her to scratch it's neck. Ariana had to conceal her excitement. They were divided up and told to greet the Hippogriffs. Ariana's allowed her to pet it and she was ecstatic. She was all smiles and giggles and even gave it a kiss on the beak.

When the bell rang the students abandoned Hagrid, despite the fact that he was calling after them to pick up their things. Ariana was one of them but she stopped and turned back to help him. She began grabbing buckets with dead ferrets that were scattered across the ground when she heard their jeering remarks behind her.

"Geee George I'm _REALLY _cold!"

"Well why didn't you bring your cloak, Fred?" they chuckled as they walked past, having also stopped to help Hagrid. Ariana rolled her eyes and ignored them. She had been working her butt off for them, they'd better be grateful when it was all over, whether or not they got out of their detention!

"Thanks 'ou guys," said Hagrid, " 'ere, I'll get sommut for you." and he retreated into his hut.

"They're rock cakes. Don't eat them…" whispered George with a hand over his mouth.

They continued cleaning as Hagrid banged things around in his hut.

"Hey, you really liked those Hippogriffs didn't ya?" said Fred "I saw you giggling at it! You even kissed it! Didn't she George?" he poked her childishly in the stomach while George nodded in agreement, "Mn'hmn!"

She flushed, swatted him away and continued cleaning up the buckets.

Hagrid emerged from his hut a few moments later. " 'ere ya are. Two fur each of ya." and sure enough he handed them large mounds that were true to their name; 'rock cakes'. Ariana realized the twins must be telling the truth as it did not look anywhere near edible.

Hagrid saw her eyeing it and said, "Go on, try it! It's my favorite!" he smiled a large smile.

The twins hurried to her rescue, "Oh Hagrid! It's our dinner time." "Yeah, we can't go spoiling our dinner!" "We'll have them for desert afterwards! That'll be good."

Hagrid seemed slightly deflated, but not as down trodden as he might have been if Ariana had broken a tooth on his rock cakes, but he nodded in agreement, "Oh, right.."

They finished cleaning up and walked back to the castle for dinner.

As they were walking, Ariana pulled out one of her rock cakes and began examine it again, wondering what could make it so hard. "Aren't you glad we saved you from having to eat that thing?" "Yea, we deserve a 'thank you!' at least!" said Fred and George. She turned on them indignantly, "I deserve a thank you for trying to get you guys out of detention!"

"TRYING to get us out of detention…I don't think it counts unless we're OUT of detention!" George nodded in agreement. They're faces were solemn as if this were some business transaction of theirs.

"ANYway, we should be getting our 'thank you' first." said George.

"Thanks." Ariana smirked.

"No, no, no. You have to give us a real apology!" said Fred. "How about 'Thank you oh, Great and Jaunty, Jovial, George - " "And Fearless Freckly Fred!" added George.

They both started howling laughing at their own jokes. Ariana was shocked to admit it but she was laughing too. Suddenly the twins both stopped and rounded on her. "By the way how is getting us out of detention going for you?" "Angie told us you spoke to McGonagall?" She assumed Angie was Angelina.

"I spoke to McGonagall and she gave ME a week and a day of detention, two essays _and_ she didn't take away your detention. She said I had to talk to Snape."

Both of the boys cringed. "Well that won't go well…", said Fred.

"You're not at all concerned that I have detention too, now?" said Ariana coyly.

"Sounds like you deserve it!" barked Fred, "Especially since we've seen my cloak! How the hell can you mess it up that bad?"

Ariana was feeling guilty again and put off by his frustration, but then she realized how cold it must be outside without a cloak on and didn't say anything. George popped in towards them and smiled said , "Only joking!" he began to pull Fred towards the castle.

"Don't be a prima donna! I'm ordering you a new one!" Ariana shouted after them. Fred stiffened and resisted George a little but eventually they both disappeared into the castle.

Ariana rushed up into the Ravenclaw Towers to search for Joanna, a girl in her dormitory who was constantly flipping through shopping magazines but never buying anything. She caught her on the Grand Staircase and asked for permission, thinking she should really order that cloak now. A few moments later Ariana was bounding down the staircases again, shopping magazine in hand and headed for the Great Hall. She didn't see Susie, so she sat alone, flipping through the magazine. Most of the cloaks featured were_ much_ too ornate for a teenage boy. She mentally crossed out the ones with lace and fancy trims and settled on ones that were plain black yet still luxurious. These cloaks would be far more expensive and lavish than the generic Hogwarts cloaks. She settled on one that was Gryffindor colors. It was lined with Hippogriff down and had the Ever Clean charm. She figured that the Hippogriff was related to the Griffin and thus befitting of a Gryffindor. She also thought Fred seemed proud and impulsive like the Hippogriff. And this cloak would stay clean no matter what trouble he got into.

Her attention was called away from her thoughts and back to the Great Hall when nearly all of the students suddenly became silent. She looked around and up to finally see a small, decrepit old owl swirling around Great Hall, hitting lamps and levitating candles as it flew. In its claws she found the cause of the silence. It was clutching a scarlet envelope. The Gryffindor table erupted, mainly the Weasley's who recognized the owl as theirs were all frantic wondering which of them had done something bad enough it deserved a howler from their mother. The youngest Weasley girl, Ginny went running from the Great Hall unable to deal with the embarrassment, even if it wasn't for her. Percy stood fussing at the owl, demanding that it come down right now, as if it could help it's slow decent. The youngest boy buried his head on the table but the red glow emanating from his face was still visible. Fred and George bolted for the door, knowing the Howler was for them. They hoped that the owl would follow them out of the Great Hall but it couldn't make it. The owl hit one more floating candle with a large thud, and fell to the floor, releasing the Howler. It rose into the air, nearly in the center of the Great Hall. Fred and George turned on their heals and ran back after it. They jumped off the benches of the Hufflepuff table where it had landed and tried to grab it as it ascended into the air, but with no luck. The Howler had risen too high and began to open.

"HOW DARE YOU! A **WEEKS** worth of detention?! What WERE you thinking? WHAT WERE YOU DOING OUT AT NIGHT?! You could have gotten yourself KILLED!" the shouts echoed off the walls of the Great Hall whilst the twins sat down for what was going to be a very long tirade. Their mother went on to explain all of the dangers around the Hogwarts grounds and all the various ways they could end up meeting an untimely end. The twins broke bread with the Hufflepuffs at their table and sat out their sentence with grace. That is until the howler ended with, "AND IF YOU PUT ONE MORE TOE OUT OF LINE, IF THEY DON'T PULL YOU OFF THE QUIDDITCH TEAM..I WILL! CONCENTRATE ON YOUR SCHOOL WORK!" the twins shot up in an uproar, upending a few goblets at the Hufflepuff table as they stood. "She can't pull us off the team!" "No way!" They were irate. Ariana ducked her head as low to the table as she could, hiding among the Ravenclaws. They must really hate her right now…

The school erupted into laughter. Although she understood the embarrassment of the situation, Ariana was in wonder about their mother. She was so upset by the chances of them getting hurt. Ariana wondered what it would be like to have a mother like that. She found herself smiling at the idea. The hairs on the back of her neck alerted her that someone was looking at her. Ariana glanced around and saw at the staff table Dumbledore was peering down his spectacles at her, smiling. She figured he already knew all about her incident, as she knew Professor McGonagall spoke to him often. However, she couldn't understand why he was smiling at her after all of it.

Ariana's mind wondered back to the twins. She wondered if the howler had renewed their hated her again. They were beyond upset at the thought of being forced of the Quidditch team. Would they pester her in her classes? Was she going to be the target of their pranks now? She finished writing up her order for Fred's cloak and she ran up to her room for ten galleons, she also left one on Joanna's bed as a thanks, and went up to the owlery to send it off. The magazine said it would arrive by the latest on Tuesday. All she had to do now was avoid the twins until then. Maybe the cloak would make up for the error of her ways.

She returned to her dormitory and spend the rest of the day writing her five page essay on the harmful effects of cheating for Professor McGonagall. After it was already dark, Susie ran to common room to get her for Astronomy. She was excited to have yet another class with Cassius and she was also excited to get a glance at the Slytherin Dungeons. The class was uneventful and uninteresting as Ariana already knew all she cared to about Astronomy from her previous learning.

After class Susie and Ariana caught up with Cassius who was walking with two other Slytherin boys.

"Hello girls, " he called out to them

"Marcus Flint," one of the Slytherin boys grabbed Ariana's hand and gave it a shake. Ariana felt like throwing up. This boy was particularly revolting. His front teeth stuck out past his lips and his dark eyes looked nefarious, giving him the appearance of an evil garden rabbit. She was weary every time he turned to look at something, worried she might get snagged on his discordant tooth. The worst thing about it was he thought he was being charming.

"Ariana Flamel." she replied rather stiffly. Susie and Ariana seemed to have label themselves as Quidditch player girls and Ariana was quickly growing to despise it. The other boy introduced himself as, "Lucian Bole" and seemed particularly dim witted. The boys escorted them to the dungeons whilst enthusing about their cunningness. Ariana was reminded of the saying her father taught her a long time ago, 'A foolish man knows himself to be wise, a wise man knows himself to be foolish.' They said their seaker, Malfoy, had been attacked by one of the Hippogriffs from Care of Magical Creatures class and they bragged that they were using it as an excuse to play Gryffindor when the weather was better. Susie thought it was a particularly clever move, or at least she said so but Ariana thought it was pretty poor of them. If they were clever they would be using their brilliance out on the field. It isn't truly a strategy unless it was done in the game was it? The other team would be suffering just as much in foul weather.

Ariana was getting irritated beyond disguising it. She didn't care about Quidditch, she didn't care about Gryffindor or who won the season, however she did care about the Hippogriffs and she was beginning to be very fond of this school. Flint yammered on about the Hippogriffs."What the bloody hell are beast like that doing at Hogwarts anyway? What kind of school is this?"

"I think he's the grounds keeper.." joked Cassius. They all laughed, even Susie. Ariana realized she was scowling and tried to conceal it. Just as she was about to run out of patience they arrived right where she wanted. She glanced at the door that was slightly ajar to her left and said loudly enough that anyone inside could hear, "Oh! Is that Professor Snape's office? Can we go say hello? He is my favorite teacher! I love Potions class!" she enthused. The boys were slightly taken aback but agreed and Ariana knocked and opened the door.

"Hello Professor!", they all filed in, both girls and nearly half of the Slytherin Quidditch team. Ariana continued, " I've read the chapter for next class and I was wondering if we'll be doing Hate potions or Love potions in class, Sir? " although she knew full well that they were basically the same potion brewed differently. Snape gave a pained expression, as if covering Love potions with teenage students was like poison to him. "Hate potions.." he murmured out. "Also Sir, is it alright if we reserve the Quidditch field for practice on Saturday?" asked Flint. 'Good' Ariana thought, Flint was making this seem more like a natural visit.

"Very well." Ariana was glad to hear that Snape didn't sound any happier to hear from someone from his own house. "Let's get going then." Cassius called out over the group and they filed back out into the hallway.

"Actually, I've just remembered, I've got to talk to Professor Snape about something! How about I catch up with you guys later?" she added the last part on as an afterthought. They all nodded in agreement and continued down the hall. Ariana didn't know if she was doing a service or injustice to Susie by leaving her. She didn't plan on meeting back up with them, despite what she said.

"Well..?" asked Snape impatiently. He drew her back to reality and she turned back towards him. "Sir, I went to Professor McGonagall, but she said you were in charge of decisions like this.." Starting off like that couldn't hurt her case. She confessed her guilt of sneaking out at night. She explained why she did it while mentioning Fred and George as little as possible, considering Snape doesn't particularly like Gryffindors. Once she was finished she embellished her plea by adding, "Sir, those boys, they've been very upset with me and they're in most of my classes. It was entirely my fault and if they're punished for it I'm sure they'll make my year a horrible one…."

She thought adding in that she may be tormented by them would raise sympathy in Snape's shriveled little heart. Perhaps it did?

"If that is how they act they should be punished for it, shouldn't they?" he asked rhetorically. "If they are pressuring you into confessing on their behalf I implore you to tell me now and I will handle it."

"No sir, that's not the case." she spoke softly and gave a curt smile.

"Hmn…Well if you say the cloak belonged to one of the boys..Fred was it? Then the other boy can go unpunished, but simply because of lack of evidence." he added disdainfully. "However, since the boys cloak was found at the point where Mr. Filch lost the student he was chasing we cannot do anything but assume it was Fred Weasley." he didn't sound very upset about his conclusion. "Personally I think you are trying to take responsibility for Weasley's actions. I assure you, you should not make a habit of this. They have and most likely always will get into trouble at this school. Don't involve yourself with them. They are very bad influences.." he rose from his seat, signaling her to leave, "and do not allow them to blame you for their crimes, Miss Flamel. I would expect you to be smarter than that…"

Ariana ducked out of Professor Snape's office, slightly abashed that Snape did not think she was the guilty one.

She returned to her dormitory and grabbed her books, then instead of doing her homework in the common room she decided to go two floors up and study in the North Wing on the Seventh floor. This was the area she found on her first day as a Ravenclaw. It was warm and inviting. Besides, now that she had freed George of his detention and bought Fred a replacement cloak they shouldn't be angry at her anymore. It's not like she would run into them in a study area anyway..

Ariana remained there for the rest of the night until curfew. She finished her homework and read her assigned readings. Once done she turned in for the night and slept past breakfast the next morning. When she woke Susie was already back from Muggle Studies and sitting on her bed.

Seeing she was awake Susie called out to her, "Ariana! You wouldn't believe what the Muggles do to you when you're pregnant and the baby doesn't fit out!" Susie's eyes were glued to her book and she was covering her mouth with her hands.

Ariana laughed and got herself out of bed. Her only class of the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts. She grabbed her charms books and decided since her homework was all done she could spend the morning working on her charms. She was headed to an empty room on the third floor when she ran into Professor Lupin, who's classroom was on the third floor. "Ah, Ariana! Good to see you!" he patted her on the shoulder goodnaturedly, "I think the Headmaster would like a word with you…." he told her to head to the seventh floor and down the corridor that ended in a gargoyle. Having already been there, Ariana knew the way. She thanked him and headed for Dumbledore's office, wondering if she would now be facing a more grave punishment for her actions. She hardened herself and approached the gargoyle. "Lemon Drops" and the stone gargoyle rotated around to show the spiral staircase. She had figured out the password the first time she entered Dumbledore's office. In fact, she had asked one of the portraits on the wall as she waited. It was a little portrait of Dumbledore himself. He smiled at her when she asked and said, "hmm….September of this year..ah! Yes, that would be 'Lemon Drops' then!"

She walked up the spiral staircase and immerged in Dumbledore's office.

Dumbledore was seated at his desk and looked up when she entered. "Ah! Yes, I have been expecting you. Come. Sit." and so he conjured up a chair in front of his desk for her. She sat down.

"I hear you have already found yourself in quite a bit of trouble young lady." he said softly, although he did not seem angry. Ariana didn't respond. It seemed rhetorical and she always felt strange standing before Dumbledore, as if he knew what she was thinking, how she felt, what she was going through...but it wasn't comforting to her. This man still seemed rather strange and foreign to her. She tried to remain stoic around him as that made her more at ease. He continued, "I must impress upon you that you are not to wonder the grounds at night- or in this case, the early hours of the morning. This is not a rule to inconvenience you or confine you here. -" "Not like my gloves." she interrupted glancing at her hands. "No. Very much unlike those gloves." his glance followed hers. "We believe that a murderer, Sirius Black, wants to kill Harry Potter. It has nothing to do with you. But there are dementors out there and you would do well to stay away from them. As I said, they do not recognize friend or foe, but if you have seen horrible things in your life the dementors will bring that fear to life again, as Mr. Potter found out on the train…" he trailed off.

"Therefore, I advise you not to wonder around the grounds by yourself. But.." he added, "if you must, at least make sure you are accompanied by an accomplished witch or wizard…"

Ariana laughed, "If I must break the rules, do it wisely?" they both chuckled. Dumbledore responded, "Just be safe -and don't get caught breaking the rules because I cannot help you if you do. Lemon drop?" he pushed a tray laden with candies across his desk towards her and she took a few. "I see you have become acquainted with the Weasley Twins, yes?" She nodded. "Ah, I should have suspected you would be drawn to them." She was taken aback, confused by his meaning and he elaborated, "Simply that they remind me very much of your father as a youth." A shiver ran down her spine and her gut began doing somersaults. She wasn't sure how to respond. Was he really like them?

Whether he did not notice her discomfort or he simply ignored it, she didn't know, but he continued, "They are two of the finest wizards we have here. Yes, they truly excel in what they do.." he chucked seeming to remember some past prank he was particularly fond of. "They are also confident and passionate like your father."

"Although, there is one particular difference of note. The Weasley's father, Arthur, works for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts and is very fond of Muggles so Fred and George do not share the sentiments your father had. I hope you will someday benefit from that facet of them."

"Benefit from what?" Ariana asked, suddenly feeling defiant. Dumbledore said he knew her father well, she'd even heard him call her father a friend, so why would he undercut her late father's beliefs in front of her?

"In Muggles, and their charming qualities." he added, unfazed by her attitude.

"My father always thought they were charming and quaint, he just thought they needed a guiding hand. They weren't fortunate enough to have powers like us.." She said becoming increasingly frustrated. " And I don't think he was wrong. Look at the state of their world!"

"and look at ours." Said Dumbledore earnestly and with a strong tone, "Do you honestly believe we are safer? Because I believe our world is dangerous and it is our responsibility to protect them from that."

Ariana felt deflated. She didn't respond. She remembered that her father felt similarly towards witches and wizards who weren't proficient in magic…like she was…. and towards blood traitors. She lowered her eyes and waited for him to continue.

"I called on you to see how you were enjoying yourself here." Dumbledore stated. "Has anyone mentioned your gloves?" he asked.

"Just Susie."

"Ah," he said, "I put the Extaspectus Charm on them. They should be unnoticeable unless someone is particularly sharp. I thought that might help you adjust here."

"I hate them."

"The gloves?"

"Yes."

"I see. I am trying to convince the Ministry that they are not necessary. I have heard that they are disruptive to your classes?"

"Yes. I used to be great at charms." she said dejectedly, "Now I can barely cast a spell." Anger laced her words and it seeped through her veins, she somehow felt this was all Dumbledore's fault, although deep down she knew that made no sense.

"I am sorry to hear that. Luckily there are many students here who struggle with charms so you do not struggle alone. Considering that you are very gifted, perhaps if you practice the gloves will not impede you anymore. "

Ariana nodded still dejected and irritated.

Dumbledore offered her more candies and send her on her way.

Starving, Ariana dropped in to the Great Hall for lunch before returning to the third floor to practice her charms before her Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

"_Protego!" "Protego!" "PROTEGO!"_ Ariana rotated her wand and the silvery shield formed from her wand. She held the shield for a few seconds before it faded away. Ariana glanced out of the door at the clock in the hallway. It was time for class so she grabbed her books and turned back to head towards class. She confidently threw her weight into the door, but it didn't budge, she was sent sprawling to the floor, her things scattering across the empty classroom. She gasped and tried the door again with no luck. Was she locked in? What if the classrooms came and went like the stairs in the Grand Staircase? What if this room had moved and was now plum against another wall? How could she get out? Her heart raising at the prospects, she backed up and gave a running start at the door. If flew open and she skidded painfully across the floor of the hallway. Laughter erupted from all around her and she flushed. Fuming she glanced up to see Fred Weasley's much too close to hers. "OH. I am SO sorry! Didn't see you there!" Fred said while pointing to the large spectacles hanging off his nose. He was wearing large glasses with thick lenses that made his eyes look like they were bulging from his face. They were most definatly not his.

"What are you doing?!" she asked still irritated from her meeting with Dumbledore and her difficulty with her charms, let alone being the butt of their jokes. They must have spotted her poking her head out into the hallway and bared the door.

George lent her a hand and pulled her up off the floor. "We got Erma Timms glasses, that quiet girl from Slytherin." said George. "We're going to bewitch it so it casts the Caeruleus Charm whenever she says 'hello' to someone. It'll turn the person blue!" said Fred and both of them began chortling. Fred got up and began collecting her things and Ariana joined.

"Well, go give them back to her!"

"We will! We will! Just as soon as we're done with them! Geez, you're worse than our mother!" lamented Fred as he handed her back her things. She took them as George continued, "Besides, class is about to start. We'll have to get them back to her afterwards."

"She's in some of my classes." said Ariana.

"Well YOU give them back to her!" grumbled Fred.

Ariana held out her hand for the glasses.

"NOT TILL WE'RE DONE WITH 'EM." they both said in unison and disappeared into the classroom. Ariana followed, resigning herself to use a counter charm on them before returning them to Erma.

Ariana found her seat and soon after Susie sat down next to her as class began. Ariana began to arrange her things on the desk before her, her parchment, her ink, her quill, etcetera, all in their arranged spot. Once set up she flipped open her textbook and a bright green light emanated from it. Having opened the book a thousand times already and with no similar effect this came as quite a surprise to Ariana. Taken aback, she stared at her textbook. Amid one of the pages was a small piece of parchment from which the glow was emanating. She stared at it, wondering what it was and where it came from when suddenly countless amounts of _spiders, cockroaches, beetles and centipedes_ started _oozing_ from the small piece of parchment.

"AHHHGHHHH!" Ariana let off a choked screamed and flung her book. She tried to run from her seat but the desk and chair were connected on one side. She lost a few precious moments figuring out that was why she couldn't escape her desk, then she threw herself out of the chair in the other direction, nearly falling to the ground.

She looked on from a safe distance, namely, the other side of the room. The piece of parchment continued to spew insects until her whole chair was nearly covered in them. The class erupted in screams and chortling. Fred and George were in absolute convulsions from laughing. Fred had slipped it into her book in the hallway before returning it to her...

"Knock it off, you _slimy_ GITS!" roared Susie as she turned on the twins. She was furious. "Leave her alone! You're _not_ funny, you know!"

"Oh c'mon! We're only joking!" whined George.

Professor Lupin rushed to the back of the room,"_Torgeo_!" and all of the bugs were sucked into his wand. "Now, I'll have to take ten points from Gryffindor for that. A bit much Fred and George, a bit much.." he said almost apologetically. Ariana got the sneaking suspicion he enjoyed their sense of humor...

"Now, everyone up! Again, leave your things, bring your wand." shouted Lupin and he pointed them all out of the room, making sure not to leave the Weasley's alone in case Susana Thompson decided to kill them.

The twins looked as if they were going to approach Ariana to apologize but one glance at Susie told them to leave. Immediately.

They followed after the other students and Susie walked with Ariana after the Professor.

Ariana wondered if she was the 'Erma Timms' of Ravenclaw, was that why the twins always gave her a hard time? She was fairly confident of her looks, but the Weasley twins made her feel very self-conscious. She felt horrible.

Professor Lupin led them to a staff room. It was long and paneled room that was completely empty, save for a few mismatched chairs and an old wardrobe. "Now, then." started Professor Lupin. "I found a boggart in here. I've been having each of my classes practice on it. You've already studied them I presume?" he said while gesturing towards the wardrobe. "Also, I will tolerate NO heckling from any of you. Are we clear? Our fears are very private things. Please respect that." he stared directly at the Weasley twins as he said this. "We swear." they both called out.

Ariana had come face to face with a boggart when she was ten. It had taken the shape of a ginormous hairy spider that filled the large storage room behind the stairwell. It's smell was putrid and its fangs were dripping with spittle and venom. Her father found her fainted by the stairwell. He told her being afraid of something so simple was 'childish' and she had to overcome it. Remembering this made her feel even more ludicrous about her fright over the bugs the Weasley's bewitched into her book earlier. Her father taught her to use a spell on the boggart until it fled…then he taught her how to kill it. However, it was not the Riddikulus Charm he had taught her, as Lupin was instructing them to use now. As ever, she was eager to learn. She wracked her mind for something that would make a large spider funny and settled on it turning pink and having a tea party. At least this way of getting rid of a boggart was much more entertaining. She was eager for her turn.

They practiced without their wands a few times and then lined up for an attempt. Many of the students faced very real fears like death, vampires and one girl war afraid of dragons, which was a particularly thrilling moment. It was very eye opening to see what each person was afraid of. Interestingly enough, Susie was deathly afraid of the dark. When her time came, a grey cloud formed around her head, blinding her and eerie noises like wild animal howls and scraping sounded from all around her. She started to panic until Ariana shouted, "Use your charm!" and she snapped out of it. She used the Riddikulus charm and fireworks shot out and cleared the gloom around her. She giggled, very relieved. Georges worst fear was very dark. When his turn came, Fred emerged from the wardrobe, bloody and limp. He stumbled and fell before George as everyone gasped, shocked by the sight. George was visibly disturbed for a moment, then collected himself and shouted, "_RIDDIKULUS_!" and boggart Fred jumped up and shouted, "ONLY JOKINGGG!" in a sing-song voice and then boggart Fred did a jig around the room. The room erupted in laughter and the boggart fled again. Much to Georges chagrin, Fred's worst fear was not losing his twin. When it was his turn a woman whom Ariana presumed to be his mother, stumbled, bloody from the wardrobe. He was also disturbed but shouted, "_RIDDIKULUS_!" and a big red clown nose popped up on his mother's face. She jumped up and began shouting, "YOU GET THIS THING OFF ME, RIGHT NOW FRED!" both Fred and George laughed hysterically.

By the time Ariana's turn came, she was grateful all she had to face was a spider. She stood confidently before the wardrobe, suddenly thankful she had no surviving relatives to fear for. Lupin looked at her questioningly but opened the wardrobe, his wand concealed at his side.

The door creaked open slowly. It was too dark to see inside but Ariana was very confident the same large spider from her childhood stood behind that door. She readied her wand, visions of large pink spiders at tea parties filling her head.

One black boot stepped out of the wardrobe.

Followed by another.

A tall, slender man in a black double breasted pea coat slowly stepped out of the wardrobe. He had swooping fair hair and he was fair skinned. He looked to be in his mid-twenties.

A noise of surprise and utter fear left Ariana's lips as her breath caught in her throat. An icy sweat broke out across her body and her vision of the room faded. All she saw was the man in front of her. Her eyes widened and her chest ached painfully, be it from fear, sadness or having forgotten to breathe, she wasn't sure. She couldn't move, her wand; forgotten and motionless by her side. Professor Lupin gave a surprised gasp and tightened his grip on his wand, hoping Ariana could handle this.

This was not a spider. All of the blood drained from her face.

"_Vater_!" Ariana shouted desperately in a language that was not the queens English. She ran towards the man, " Mein Vater!" Moisture began to form in the corners of her eyes as she looked at him in awe, stopping right in front of him; too afraid to reach out.

The man's face, once tepid, looked down at her and suddenly grew furious. His lips contorted in disgust.

"You FAILURE. You disgust me." he spit out sharply. The man quickly drew his wand and pointed it directly in her face. Ariana looked him in the eye, stunned and the man bellowed, "_CRUCIO_!"

The whole room broke into terrified screams, including Ariana.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" she fell to her knees and covered her head with her hands, but the man disappeared with a pop. Suddenly Dumbledore stood beside her. Ariana jumped to her feet and rushed towards Dumbledore, feeling nauseous and strangely cold from what she had just experienced. Had he seen the boggart? Had he seem him? However Dumbledore's face was not calm and understanding nor his eyes twinkling and caring. His face was also contorted with loathing. "I should have never let you come here!" he suddenly seemed so large as he towered over her, his face; terrifying. " You are too dangerous! You'll kill us ALL!" he screamed. He too pulled his wand on her and shoved it in her face. The room was too stunned, no one moved. The boggart disappeared with a pop.

The class stood in a moment of stunned silence. Ariana, dazed and now completely lost in her fears, looked up and saw Susie walking past. She was latched on to Cassius's arm and he held on to her books. Professor Lupin began to shout to Ariana, "Use the charm, Ariana! ARIANA!" but his voice fell on deaf ears. Ariana was too wound up to hear anything. Her eyes were glazed and she saw nothing but the boggarts changing form. She took a hesitant step and reached out for her friend, "S-Ssussie?" she called out meekly.

The Susie that was amid her classmates called out to her desperately, "THAT'S NOT ME ARIANA! I'M OVER HERE!"

The Susie Ariana saw gave her a sharp glance and whispered pleadingly to her through clenched teeth, "Don't. _Talk._ To. Me." Susie turned her attention back towards Cassius with a smile and they left her.

Ariana realized she was shaking, her legs suddenly felt weak below her and her sensation of nausea increased. She fell to her knees and covered her mouth, feeling as if she would vomit. She pointed her wand limply after the retreating boggart and tried to cast the spell, "..ri.. -..riddikul.." The class continued to call to her, but she couldn't hear. There was another pop and Ariana was lifted by each arm and tossed roughly on her back. The Weasley Twins stood above her. Their faces were harsh and jeering but Ariana's vision was going fuzzy. She stared at the ceiling above her, her wand and hand completely limp at her side.

The real George called out to Lupin to help Ariana, "PROFESSOR!" but the professor, still holding on to some of his faith in Ariana, called out to her again, "Ariana it's a boggart! It's not real! _Fight it off_!"

The rest of the class stood stunned.

Boggart Fred, stood over her and jeered mockingly, "What's a twit like you doing in this school, uh? Are you _pretending_ to be a witch? Are you a _**squib**_? You can barely cast _basic_ charms!" Boggart George chimed in, " Fancy this Fred! A bugger who's worse than Neville! This one's got to be off her trolley, coming here!" They snickered at her. Then boggart Fred again, "I can't _stand_ you…" he spit out.

The real Fred couldn't handle seeing anymore.

"_RIDDIKULOUS_!" he shouted out with all of his strength. Large strings of bogeys began to ooze from each of the false Weasley Twin's nostrils. They dripped down past their chins. The class suddenly began roaring with laughter.

Ariana lay listless on the ground at the boggart twins feet on the edge of consciousness, eye lids fluttering softly.

With one last pop the boggart retreated to the wardrobe. Susie ran over to Ariana and started gently shaking her.

"Ariana! Ariana!" she said gently.

"No, no. Let her rest a moment." said Lupin as he ran over to her after locking the wardrobe behind the boggart.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU HELP HER!?"

The class turned to face Fred, who stood defiant and irate. His face was flushed red with anger and his hands were clenched. The class quickly hushed, having just witnessed a student shouting at a professor. It looked like even George was surprised by him.

"You're right. I should have helped her." the class gasped, "I had hoped Ariana would face her fears. Ariana is a very strong witch and I knew that but I believe she was too shocked by what she saw to react." answered Lupin solemnly. He looked Ariana up and down to make sure she was alright.

"What _did_ she see? I mean…What was that?" asked George, "I mean, why is she afraid of _us_?" he gestured to himself and his brother, " And Susie?" he gestured to Susie, knelt beside him.

Susie spoke softly, "She's afraid people will spurn her…and be cruel to her."

"Who was that man?" asked Fred. "The Cruciatus Curse?"

Susie responded without thinking, realizing afterwards that it might be private information to Ariana.

"She called him 'Vater'.. Father..in German."

* * *

_Authors Note:Thank you guys for the watches, favs and reviews! It means so much to me! I hope you like the story half as much as I like writing it! Enjoy, you lovely people! The next chapter is one of my absolute favorites! It's very Fred-and-George-ish! _

**Next Chapter: Making Amends**


	5. Chapter 5 - Making Amends

**Chapter 5 - Making Amends**

A failure. She felt like an absolute failure. Was she slowly transforming into a muggle? She overcame her fears when she was ten, but she couldn't now? She had cast spells with ease as soon as she could walk but now she couldn't even cast simple charms or even stay standing in front of a boggart..

Ariana was not the same for some time. Professor Lupin gave her mounds of chocolate to cheer her up but she sat lifeless in a desk for the remainder of the class. Boggarts weren't dementors; the drained feeling after losing a battle with one could not be cured with chocolate. Fred and George, both extremely concerned for her, offered her sweets they had concocted themselves to cheer her up. "This one tastes exactly like fudge but the flavor will stay for nearly thirty minutes!" Fred exclaimed happily as he placed it on the desk before her. She didn't respond to anyone.

She wasn't sad so much as she was simply_ spent. _

She felt drained of all feelings. Broken, almost.

Susie wasn't very good at making anyone laugh or comforting them, but she kept offering to get things for Ariana that might help her. "Do you want some water? A bag of ice? Want to go to Madam Pomfrey? The dormitories?" Professor Lupin also periodically checked up on her too.

Ariana didn't want anything. She didn't want to go anywhere. She didn't want to see anyone.

She just sat there for the remainder of class.

Susie walked with arm around Ariana as they left to go get dinner, in case she felt weak. Fred and George volunteered to escort them, they had a pair of glasses to deliver. "Look Ari, no charms!" George said as he held it in front of Ariana for her to inspect. Ariana could walk on her own, and look around her but she seemed completely detached, as if she was still in a trance.

"She'll be fine in no time!" Fred said with a big smile and an affectionate pat on the top of her head. Although in private he asked Susie if she thought the Cruciatus Curse had actually been cast on her by the boggart. He also asked her what happened to Ariana's father. She replied saying she didn't know and forbid him from prying into it. He agreed.

Ariana sat at the table in the Great Hall and waited while Susie ate; she said she wasn't hungry. Susie caught Fred and George glancing over at the Ravenclaw table a few times throughout dinner. After Susie tired of trying to get Ariana to eat, they left and went back to their dormitory. Ariana crawled under the covers of her bed and didn't move nor make a sound until the next morning; nearly half a day.

When Susie woke it was figuratively and literally like night and day. The sun that shone through the great windows of the Ravenclaw Tower illuminated their clean room. Ariana's things were no longer thrown across the floor, everything was back in its rightful place and her bed was already made. The girl herself sat atop her bed with a book, parchment, quill , a few of Fred and Geroge's delicious chocolates, and ink set out before her. When she noticed Susie was awake she shot her a cheery smile.

"Morning, Sleepyhead!"

Susie was dumbfounded. Was this the same girl as yesterday? She smiled, very relieved she wasn't doomed to be friends with a zombie for the rest of the year.

"Let's go eat! It's nearly time for breakfast! " Ariana whined. Susie was only too happy to comply. Ariana was nearly skipping down the stairs.

"What's gotten into you?" asked Susie.

"I'm _famished_!" she whined again with a big smile on her face. And she was not joking. It was as if her new found energy needed to be fueled by massive amounts of breakfast foods. She ate sausages, muffins, tarts, eggs, beans, ham, toast smothered in jams and fruits galore. Susie was surprised she didn't burst.

Having no other plans except to watch Cassius and the Slytherin Quidditch team practice, Ariana decided to show Susie the North Wing of the seventh floor; which was now her favorite study place. Susie was very impressed. "It's a bit less stuffy than the library isn't it?" she said. "Better chairs," Ariana added. Susie finished up some homework while Ariana retreated to the abandoned third floor room to practice her charms. A few hours later Susie and Ariana met in their dormitory to ready themselves for the Quidditch practice. A glance outside their window told them it was a particularly cold and windy day. Susie bundled up in her warmest sweater and donned on her cloak. She waved her wand about her and shouted, "_Impervius!_" she repeated this for Ariana's cloak too, saying, "It'll keep the water off of you." Ariana, knowing she might just die of boredom in the stands, brought along her Charms book. She spent the time it took them to travel from their dormitory to the door of the castle trying to cast a successful Impervious Charm on her book. She stuck her book out of the door to test if her charm had been successful. The ink on the page smudged in the rain. "_IMPERVIUS!_" she nearly screamed it at the book. She held it out once more. Success!

They walked across the field towards the Quidditch field. Ariana was unpleasantly surprised to realize the Impervious charm only protected her cloak from rain, not her face. She pulled up the hood of her cloak. Ahead of them they saw a small army of green cloaked players approaching a small army of red cloaked players who were leaving the field. A few tense moments and choice words seemed to have been passed and one red player -one of the girls of the team, had to be held back from attacking one of the Slytherins.

It wasn't until the Gryffindors were fairly close that Ariana realized the Weasley twins were among them. Their bright red hair blended in with their red Quidditch gear. Ariana burst out laughing. They looked like soaked rats in the rain. Their hair was too long and it laid in their eyes but they were both beaming happily. Both of them had brushed their bangs from their faces with their muddy hands and smudged mud across their brow. She noticed Angelina Johnson and Harry Potter also among the group.

"We'll you look loads better today!" said Fred. Ariana flushed, feeling quite embarrassed about her weakness in yesterday's class. "What are you guys doing out here? Trying out for the Slytherin team?" asked George.

"Susie's hopping to try out for the position of team 'Girlfriend'." Ariana joked, shooting a doting smile to her friend. Susie blushed and scoffed, slightly irked by being called out. Fred laughed, "Good one, Lamb Shanks!" he said as he bopped her on the nose.

" '_Lamb shanks_'? LAMB SHANKS?," bellowed George and he cuffed his brother in the shoulder. " You two have pet nicknames now? What have I missed!?" he lamented woefully.

Ariana blushed yet again, and Fred got noticeably red in the ears. Susie seemed to go a little green in the face. Both parties quickly said a few awkward goodbyes and headed in opposite directions, Fred and George hurrying after their team, towards the castle. Ariana looked back at the boys longingly, wishing they had given her more of their candies. Susie quickly rushed her to the stands and they found a good spot towards the middle with a good view of both goal posts. She began fumbling with her robes and produced a pair of binoculars from one of her cloak pockets. She held them up and fiddled with the nobs until she was satisfied then she began scanning the field eagerly, despite the fact that the Slytherin team was defiantly still getting prepared for practice in the locker rooms.

Ariana chuckled and pulled her cloak tighter around her, wishing the Impervious charm kept the wind out too.

"You shouldn't forgive them so quickly…" Susie mumbled randomly.

Ariana paused a moment wondering if Susie might be talking to herself, but the girl lowered her binoculars and looked directly at her. "Those boys," she avoided saying their names as if it left a bad taste in her mouth, "they're bad news. They've been nothing but trouble. They've been being really rude. I get that they're being nice all of a sudden, but don't let it fool you…" she cautioned and she returned to her search of the field.

Ariana thought long and hard about it. She decided that they were being nice to her because -to her surprise, apparently rejection was her fear, and the boggart had taken the shape of _them_. She decided that it didn't matter one way or another, as nothing had changed. Confident in this, she opened her charms book and drew her wand and began practicing her levitations on Susie's hair. After a few minutes wait the Slytherin team traipsed out onto the field with their brooms and took flight. The team took a few practice laps around the field, Cassius flying particularly fast and close to the stands as he approached their end, obviously showing off but then again Ariana supposed that was why they were there…

Ariana noticed the bright blond haired boy, Malfoy, with his arm in a sling. Despite this he was using it with ease. She thought back to what Flint had said about his injury and faking it and was slightly irritated. She decided to keep her nose in her book instead of mentioning it to Susie, who was very wrapped up in the teams practice. They began running drills and she would periodically shriek, "Oh Nooo!" ,"Watch out!" and "Good job!" although no one but Ariana could hear them. Susie's eyes were locked on Cassius as he flew, Ariana contemplated repeating Susie's own advice to her but thought better of it.

After an hour and a half of practice the Slytherin team was done, and after an hour and a half Ariana never wanted to see a Quidditch game again. Susie felt the need to run down and greet them on the field. She bypassed all of the other players and ran straight up to Cassius and began cooing over him, "Oh your arm must hurt from that rogue Bludger, Cassius! Does it hurt?" Ariana notices a hint of jealously shoot across Marcus Flints face and he exchanged a sharp glance with Malfoy and they both smirked nastily. Ariana's heart was filled with fire suddenly and her stomach with disgust. She didn't like the way they looked, and how they looked at Susie. Cassius was by far the best looking boy on the team, Ariana wasn't surprised Susie was attracted to him, however the hideous captain and, from what she had heard, richest boy on the team would definitely have something to say about it. Ariana had to keep an eye on them. She stood on the sidelines and waited for Susie. Spotting her, Flint and Malfoy headed over, apparently desperately craving attention. Ariana tried not to show her aversion to them and kept her head high and face calm.

"Is that your friend over there?" drawled Malfoy. Ariana suddenly wondered if Slytherins had speech impediments that made them all draw out their words.

"Yes. Her names Susanna Thomson." she said coolly.

"Pretty name for a very pretty girl." he continued, "I'm Draco Malfoy." he reached out his hand and so did Ariana, but instead of a handshake he rotated her hand, bowed and kissed it. Ariana was taken aback.

"You're what? A third year right?" Ariana pointed out their age difference, keeping her voice even so that the comment was tart enough to be a slap in the ego, but not enough to be an outright insult. She wished she could pointed out their height difference. Malfoy had not hit his growth spurts yet, he was nearly a head shorter than her. Flint stifled a chuckle.

"This is Ariana Flamel." Flint told Draco mater-of-factly, which Ariana thought was particularly stupid because they had only been introduced the day before last.

"Ariana….Ariana.." Draco repeated slowly, then nodded as if her name was…_acceptable._

Susie ran over and grabbed Ariana by the arm and asked quietly, "Mind if I work on Arithmancy homework with Cassius?" "Go for it." she said happily. Admittedly she was worried about the other Slytherins and whatever dastardly plans they would make.

"Why don't we all go back to the Slytherin Common room then?" asked Draco, as if he were some ringleader despite being the youngest. Ariana wanted to cry. Although she was worried for Susie, the last thing she wanted to do was _hang out_ with the Slytherins. And she was already done all of her homework so she didn't have anything to distract her from their arrogance. Deciding she couldn't leave her friend alone, Ariana had to oblige. They traveled back to the castle and down towards the dungeons. They spend the rest of the day there, Susie was nearly being smothered by Cassius and Malfoy, while Ariana strolled around the dungeons. She inspected every nook and cranny and sat every now and then to flip through a book she'd found along the shelves, anything to occupy her painfully bored mind. She was doing just that, sat in a fat armchair near Susie when Draco turned his attentions to her again, possibly noticing that Susie most likely wasn't even going to look at him. "Studying even though you're done with your schoolwork….what a very _Ravenclaw_ thing to do." he said with a smirk. "You see, I never do my homework. I just get someone else to do it for me, right Crab and Goyle?" Ariana looked up from her book to see two hulking third year Slytherin boys nod in agreement. " 'Corse Snape lets me do anything I want. He knows my dad you see." Ariana didn't even have to respond, the boy was content to have a conversation with himself. She supposed he was used to it considering he had two brainless flubberworms for friends.

"My dad was a governor of Hogwarts, that was until that Potter boy," he spat out Harry's name, "got him sacked." Malfoy sat on the edge of Ariana's armchair, too close for Ariana's liking, and made a noise of disgust, "I _hate_ him."

"You should be careful talking like that." Ariana warned. "Careful! Why? I don't _care_!" he spat out childishly.

"She's right. You shouldn't speak like that, Malfoy. Not in public.." the common room door swung closed, as Professor Snape glided in, his cloak whirling around behind him. He swooped across the common room and stopped in front of their group. He glanced icily from Ariana to Susie and back.

"Are you in Slytherin…?" he asked coldly.

"No, sir." Ariana answered softly while donning on the most pitiful face she could muster. Snape glanced sharply toward Susie again.

"Are you… in Slytherin..?"

"No, sir." she replied stiffly.

"Then, might I ask, what you are doing in the Slytherin common room?"

"But _sir_," drawled Malfoy in the most pathetic voice he could, "they're our guests! Please let them stay. Just this once?" he pleaded.

Snape's cold stare shot towards Malfoy and he paused, contemplating.

Finally he came to a decision and spoke.

"Just this once. Don't let me catch you again…" and he swiftly walked away, searching for one of his students.

As soon as he was out of earshot the group began bad mouthing him.

"See," Draco said, leaning even closer to Ariana, "See, I told you."

"It's dinner time anyway." pointed out Cassius and they all rose and headed off towards dinner. Ariana was secretly very grateful to Snape, she thought she would never escape those dungeons. Once at the Great hall they said their goodbyes and Susie and Ariana ate at the Ravenclaw table. They had a quick dinner and retreated to their own common room. Susie had a lot of homework to catch up on, and Ariana settled on reading her textbooks. The day quickly turned to night and they settled in. The next day passed similarly. Susie finished her homework and Ariana studied.

Monday morning they arose early and well rested and headed down to breakfast. Ariana, who had been watching the owl post every morning eagerly, was ecstatic to see a large parcel arrive through the Great Hall windows. It was being carried by two Long-eared owls, not the common Hogwarts owls. The two birds circled the Great Hall once and spotted a particularly red section of the Gryffindor table and dropped their parcel directly onto Fred's breakfast. His goblet fell over and something that looked suspiciously like beer cascaded from it, making a rather large mess. Fred, too asleep to have a good reaction time simply stared at the package, wondering what it could possibly be while Hermione and Ron scrambled to cleaned the table. Ariana twitched impatiently in her seat, waiting for him to open it. He was painfully slow…

She grabbed her wand and swirled it upwards, "_Magnus clangororis!_" and she pointed her wand in the direction of the Gryffindor table then cupped her hand to her ear.

"Well…go on… open it, you dung beetle!" fussed Ron.

"Where does it say it's from?" asked Hermione curiously.

Susie looked at Ariana incredulously as she leaned across their table suspiciously.

"It doesn't say.." said Harry Potter as he examined the package closely.

"Who could it be from?" asked Hermione.

"I have no idea.." grumbled Fred sleepily.

Ariana giggled, covering her mouth and Susie looked at her as if she were speaking parseltongue.

George leaned over and glanced at the package and made a grunting sound then went back to his meal, too gorgy to be bothered by the package.

"Who do you reckon it's from, George?" asked Fred.

"Dunno." said George halfheartedly.

"GO ON!" shouted Ron impatiently and Fred began to unwrap the package.

"I bet it's from Mrs. Weasley.." said Harry.

"Can't be. Why don't _I_ have one?" said George with a soft tone of envy in his voice. "Plus, she'd probly get Harry something before she got _us_ something..."

"And she would tell us she's sending something wouldn't she.." added Ron. Fred was taking too long to open the parcel so Ron snatched it up and shred it apart quickly. A soft black cloak with red lining unfolded into Fred's lap. They all sat in awe of it and gasped. The Gryffindor sigil was already sowed into the breast of the cloak.

"WOOOOWWWWW," shouted Ron, Harry and Hermione.

George choked on his mouthful of sausages.

Fred didn't make a sound and his back was to her so she couldn't make out his expression, he just rubbed his hand up and down the cloak. Ron and Harry joined him.

"It's so soft!"

"That's Hippogriff down!" shouted Hermione.

"WOW!" said Ron again, "Who would spend this much money on_ you_?" he asked incredulously. Harry beamed happily at Fred.

Fred turned around in his seat and his eyes started scanning the Ravenclaw table. Ariana panicked, knocked over her goblet of milk, and ducked under the table.

"You're an idiot!" shouted Susie as she began chortling with laugher. She tried to hide her face as Fred's eyes scanned over their table.

"He's coming over here…" Susie warned.

"Will he see me if I come out from under the table?" Ariana cried.

"Yea…AHAHAHHAHA!"

"What do I do, Susie?"

Susie went into hysterics.

Ariana's charm had been interrupted and she could no longer her the Gryffindor table.

The table cloth was suddenly drawn back on the other side of the table, closest to the Gryffindor table and Ariana came face to face with Fred Weasley. Susie was howling with laughter.

"What are you doing down here, Lamb Shanks?" Fred asked coyly.

"..dropped something…" Ariana mumbled and slunk back into her seat, wondering if all of Gryffindor table was watching them. A quick glance told her they were. Susie had tears in her eyes and a stitch in her side from laughing so hard. She laid her head on the table, unable to hold it up any longer.

"Is this really for me?" asked Fred, suddenly strangely sincere.

"Yeah." she said. Her face was so flushed she thought she was going to burst.

There was a moments silence, then Fred said, "…It's _really_ expensive...isn't it, Ari?"

Then, "I don't think I can accept something so expensive…"

Ariana didn't say anything. She was actually very hurt. Did he not want it? What was wrong with it?

Susie noticed the hurt in her face and stopped laughing. She glared at Fred but he didn't notice, he was staring guiltily down at the cloak in his hands and running a finger over it gently.

"It's yours…" Ariana said softly.

Fred nodded his head but still looked unsure.

"Just no more bugs! …or any other unpleasant surprises.. Okay?" Ariana said smiling.

Fred nodded more confidently this time and smiled. He turned, swung the cloak over his shoulders and retreated back to the Gryffindor table fancifully. Ariana giggled again.

As Fred strutted back to his seat, Lee Jordan cat called at him. He bowed graciously and strutted on. George, now fully awake, joined in on groping his fancy cloak.

"I can't believe it's real Hippogriff down! I've never seen it! -'cept on a Hippogriff, I guess.." said Dean Thomas, who had to come down the table and have a look.

"So.." said Ron, rather tartly and with a mouth full of sausages, "she your girlfriend now?"

Fred laughed, "You jealous, Ron? Bet you wish Harry bought you nice things like this, eh?"

"Shuttap." retorted Ron, going redder than usual in the face.

Fred went on to his first class feeling like the king of all wizards.

Susie and Ariana went to their first period class early. It was uneventful except they turned in their first homework assignment. Cassius walked them to the Potions classroom after class saying he needed to grab some of his things from the dungeon anyway. He made small talk with Susie on the way down there.

"Why don't we have a friendly game sometime, eh Susie?" he asked

"One-on-one?" Susie asked confidently.

Cassius glanced at Ariana and said, "How 'bout two-on-two?" Ariana stuttered and said, "Oh…I don't play!" She shot him an apologetic smile. Susie darted her face behind Cassius's back and gave her 'the look'. Ariana sighed, resigning herself to her fate, and agreed, "..but…I'll try!"

Cassius left them at the door to the Potions classroom and went towards the Slytherin common room, Susie waving after him.

"Ohhh Thank you, thank you, thankyouthankyou!" she blurted out as soon as he was out of earshot. Ariana smiled at her. It couldn't hurt, could it? Although she wondered who the other Slytherin player would be…

They sat down for class. Ariana was bouncing around in her seat. Today they were going to make Hate Potions! Which in and of itself may not seem very exciting, but if brewed slightly differently becomes a Love potion. Snape made a point to teach them as far away from Valentine's day as possible since fifth year curriculum dictated affection altering potions _must_ be taught. He also made a point not to mention the relation to Love potions at all, he merely referred to it as 'the antidote' to the Hate potion. Whereas the 'antidote' required the tips of rose thorns, the Hate potion required the stems of roses. The 'antidote' called for peppermint leaves, and the Hate potion called for the roots. Ariana and Susie set up their cauldrons eagerly and sat attentively as Snape instructed them. Susie had her textbook open and Ariana took notes on the advice Snape gave them. The Hate potion had to be brewed on a quick, high heat, the 'antidote' required being brewed at a slow, low heat.

They chopped, minced and skinned the ingredients and added them in the precise order. When Snape wasn't looking they glanced at each other and Susie whispered, "_Accio Bottles_" conjuring up their own glass bottles and they slid them under the desk. Once they were done and the coast was clear they filled their bottles and labeled them 'Love' and 'Hate'. Each of the potions would grow stronger as they cured. They filled them up and hid them in their bags, giggling.

At the end of class Snape had them exchange potions with the tables sitting next to them. Ariana and Susie's potions worked flawlessly, however Ariana left the class with a general dislike for the Hufflepuff girl seated beside her that she hadn't even met.

They went to Ancient Runes and quickly found a seat and opened their text. Susie was preoccupied with talking to Cassius and his friends while Ariana got prepared for class.

"Um.." Ariana looked up to see a meek Slytherin girl standing before her desk.

"Uhhm…" the girl couldn't bring herself to speak.

"Yes?" Ariana asked kindly.

"I..I heard you..helped me get my glasses back from..the Weasley Twins.." the girl croaked hoarsely. Ariana noticed the large spectacles barely hanging on the edge of the girls nose, which stuck up at a sharp angle. "Thank you.."

Ariana smiled, "Anytime!"

"I'm Er-" "Erma Timms! I know you! I'm Ariana!" Erma beamed ecstatically and quickly took a seat next to her. Ancient Runes went by quickly. Ariana spent her time diligently taking notes. At the end of class she said goodbye to Erma and took her leave from class.

Ariana flushed as she walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts class for the first time since seeing her father and nearly fainting. She felt ashamed and wondered if Professor Lupin thought she was silly. At least Harry Potter was afraid of _fear. _Ariana was afraid of people hurting her, it seemed trivial.

She hurried in and threw her bag on the floor beside her desk. The sound of glass bottles hitting one another echoed loudly in the large, domed room and she cursed under her breath, remembering the potions she had smuggled out of class. The sound caught the ever curious eyes of Fred and George; Fred still wearing his cloak despite the fact that the castle was a nice temperature inside. Ariana rearranged the bottles gently in her bag so that they wouldn't smash and readied herself for class . She waited for Susie to arrive and when she did, she arrived late, blushing and apologizing to Professor Lupin who didn't truly care. She hurried to her seat and sat beside Ariana, breathing heavily. Ariana looked at her from the corner of her eye, judgmentally and Susie laughed.

Today's Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson was a lecture and both of the Ravenclaw girls listened intently. They took a break halfway through the double class period. Susie and Ariana busied themselves in gossiping with one another. Susie told Ariana all about her walk from class, Cassius had held her hand, all the way to Defense Against the Dark Arts room. They giggled together.

"Goodness Gracious! Keep it down will you, you two old hens!" shouted George as he jokingly slammed his hands upon their desks. Ariana looked around hurriedly, now knowing that if you only see one twin the other is up to no good. At first she didn't spot him, then he stood up from directly behind her desk and she was filled with dread, knowing it was too late.

"I _THOUGH _that was what I saw!" he cried, he held in his hands two bottles filled with amber liquid that read 'Love'.

"Look here Georgie! They've got _Love_ potions!"

Ariana shot up from her seat, going rosy red in the face, "GIVE THAT BACK FRED!" she shrieked and lunged after him. "Give that back RIGHT NOW!" she looked around desperately for Professor Lupin but he seemed to have stepped out for a moment. Fred booked it. He fled across the room grinning evilly. "FRED!" she chased him wildly after him. "Come on! We weren't supposed to take that form Potions class! Give it back!" Fred held it straight up, unfortunately he was much taller than her and she couldn't even reach it on her tippy toes. She tried desperately jumping for it.

"Who are you planning on using this on? Huh, Ari?" he taunted. "You know it's against school rules to use Love potions!" he was laughing fiercely. "Were you going to use it on Cassius?" he joked cooingly. "or maybe Harry Potter?"

"Freddd!" she whined, "You said you'd knock it off!"

"Well, I didn't _say_ anything! Besides! It's in our _nature_!" he laughed. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to confiscate this young lady! Anyway, what do you care about getting in trouble? Don't you have detention….for how long? Forever?"

Suddenly she remembered something and turned to George. Fred took the chance to slip the potions to Lee Jordan nearby.

"George! I forgot!..." she said and George looked at her questioningly. "I thought you should know….You don't have detention anymore!" "You _thought_ I should know, eh? When does that start? OH, _today_?" the class laughed.

Ariana spun around tried to coax Fred into giving her back her potions. She tried using her paltriest look on him but he wouldn't relent, saying, "I have a baby sister, you can't get me with a look like that!" Professor Lupin returned and sent them all to their seats. Ariana spent much of the class time sending pitiful looks towards Fred and he spent the class chuckling at her weak attempts. Susie was very detached from it all, she still didn't trust the Weasley Twins and she thought they gave Ariana too much trouble. Fred passed a spare quill to George and he cast a spell on it and handed it back. Fred lifted his wand and levitated the quill over to Ariana when Professor Lupin wasn't looking. Ariana laughed, grateful that at least Susie didn't set it on fire this time….

When it reached her she held it in her hands and examined it, wondering what they had done to it. She took the quill and began to write in the corner of her notes with it. _What is this?_

Moments later a messy script formed directly below it. _Who were you going to use this on?_ She grabbed her quill and began to scribble back. Ariana couldn't contain her excitement! Quills that wrote to each other! She had to learn this charm! She wrote back; _No one. We didn't have a plan. We just wanted to have it._

Fred scribbled back_; So...that means Cassius, then? _

Ariana chuckled and shot a nervous glance at Susie, who hadn't noticed.

_I can't speak for anyone else…_

Ariana hardly took notes or paid attention for the rest of class. She wrote back and forth with Fred. They wondered what their fate was going to be like in detention, who would administer it and she continued to plead for the potions back.

In no time at all, the bell rang, signaling the end of classes. Ariana's notes were filled but only thanks to her chat with Fred. Students burst from their seats and headed for the door. Susie walked silently, Ariana could tell she was in a bad mood. She supposed she was irritated by Fred and George but she didn't pry. They walked down to the Great Hall and readied themselves for dinner. During their meal Professor McGonagall approached Ariana and spoke to her sternly, "Your detention will start today at 7 pm. Report to Mr. Filches office." Then she strode away. Ariana wondered if she would be having detention with Fred…

Susie left dinner early, mumbling something about studying with Cassius and Lucian Bole. Ariana left soon after and having nothing else to do until detention, she wandered aimlessly. She was exploring the fourth floor when she suddenly heard footsteps approaching. She turned to face the person as Dumbledore rounded the corner.

"Ah, Ariana! Would you come with me a moment?"

Ariana followed as he led them back to his office. Ariana wondered why he was on the fourth floor to begin with, if not solely to search for her. They entered though the stone gargoyle and up the flight of stairs. Dumbledore ambled into his office and gently picked up two blue bobbles from his desk. He handed them too her.

"I believe you should take this. It may come in handy to you some day." He placed the bobbles in her hand and she stared at them. They were two blue stones held on by a thin silver chain. "What is it?" she asked.

"They are Amiculus Amulet. They are 'friend finders'."

She continued to stare at the amulet, wondering why on earth Dumbledore would give her something like this. Was he trying to imply she needed to make more friends? She ran her hand gently over the vibrant blue stone and it began to glow gently. The other amulet began to vibrate in the palm of her hand. The necklaces slowly rose into the air and the blue light turned amber as they drew near each other. The tips of the amulets touched then they glowed brighter for a moment and fell back into her hand, motionless. "Why?" she asked softly.

"In case you are ever lost, you can always find your friend…"

Ariana spent the remaining time before detention roaming around the second floor corridors until finally ending up a few minutes early to Filches office on the ground floor. She waited patiently outside his office and passed the time by fiddling with the two Amiculus Amulets around her neck. She wondered if Susie would like it…although Susie never really got into trouble. Maybe it would come in handy if the Slytherin boys cause trouble one day?

She felt a tap on the top of her head and looked up to see Fred standing before her. "Where'd you come from?" she asked incredulously while looking around for any clue. "I know my way around this castle better than the back of my hand." he bragged. "That's why I don't get detentions anymore..," he added. "What've you got there?" Fred asked pointing to the amulets in her hand. "Nothing." she quickly tucked them under her shirt and stood, ready to enter Mr. Filches office for their sentencing.

Fred, the most familiar with Mr. Filchs office, bounded straight in and Ariana followed close behind. Filch was seated at his desk and he grunted as they walked in. "What are you smirkin' about boy?" he spit out at Fred. "Nothing, sir." replied Fred with a feigned innocence. Filch grunted again. He made them wait until he was done filling out paper work to address them again. "You two will be serving your detentions in the owlery. Take those buckets and things there-" he pointed to a corner where long handled scrapers and buckets sat, "and we'll head over there." The buckets and tools were covered in filth. Ariana was glad -for once in her life, that she had gloves on. They grabbed their supplies and headed for the West tower, painfully close to the Ravenclaw Tower. Ariana looked longingly down the hallway that led to the Ravenclaw common room as they passed it. The first time she visited the owlery it didn't bother her, but now that she was expected to clean it, Ariana was shocked. The floor was littered with straw, owl droppings and even the regurgitated skeletons of mice and other prey. The stench was quiet foul and there were no panes in the windows to protect from the cold breeze blowing through.

"Oh! Almost forgot. You'd better give me those wands!" Filch said holding out his hand. Fred and Ariana exchanged a frustrated glance and obliged. "I'll be back in two hours..or three.." Filch said darkly and he walked out of the room. The door clicked as he locked it behind him. "I BLOODY can't STAND HIM!" Fred shouted suddenly as soon as he was gone, shocking the daylights out of Ariana, she nearly tripped over herself. "Sorry." he added, chuckling.

"Well, we should get started. It's going to be a long night…" Fred grabbed the tools and began scrapping the filth and flinging it out of the far window. Ariana quickly grabbed a tool and joined in step beside him. They spent nearly an hour working in silence, it was quite a comfortable silence. Both of them had thought ahead and brought along their cloaks, Ariana was thoughtful and Fred was just used to Filch. Ariana was glad to note that Fred was looking perfectly temperate in his new cloak. She, on the other hand was used to the cold and biting wind.

The sun began setting around them and the sky turned into a beautiful shade of orange and purple that outlined the mountains surrounding the castle. The view was very beautiful, Ariana stopped to and admired it for a moment but quickly went back to work when she spotted Fred staring at her. They didn't speak again until Ariana was scraping directly under the cubbied walls where the majority of the owl droppings where. She struggled to pry some of the mess loose and used her body as leverage, and then accidentally bumped behinds with Fred who was having a similar issue oh 'his side of the room'. She stood up quickly and flushed. With the blade of his scraper on the floor, Fred rested his head on his hands around the handle and smiled, laughing at her. He was very charming….

All of a sudden it felt as if lighting had struck her in the chest. She quickly pulled out the Amiculus Amulets to see if they were alarming for some reason; it wasn't them. She rubbed her hand across her heart in wonder as Fred went back to cleaning.

Fred tried scrapping up the particularly cemented dung he had been working on for a few more minutes before he turned to Ariana for help. She stopped what she was doing and watched him as his eyes landed on her gloved hands. "Mind if I use those gloves for a minute?" he asked as he began to ready a chisel and hammer from the tools they had. Ariana didn't respond and looked at her gloves. She supposed Fred was particularly sharp since he could see through Dumbledore's spell. "You okay?" he asked, stopping what he was doing and approaching her. He must have seen the turmoil in her face, she didn't know what to tell him. 'No' seemed too strange to tell him so she went with, "I'll do it!" and took up the chisel and hammer. Fred looked at her curiously, "Are they important..?" She didn't turn to look at him. "The gloves, I mean." She paused for some time, but considering there was no place to disappear too and they had another hour or so locked in the owlery together, she gave in. "They were my fathers…" she said in an almost inaudible voice.

"Is he _gone_?" he asked.

"Yeah."

Fred came to crouch beside her, hands resting on his knees, "You can have mine. For half the asking price if you'd like..." She found herself chuckling along with him.

They began scraping the inner sides of the cubbies the owls rested in and continued talking. Every now and then an owl would be particularly indigent at being woken up, would nip at their hands and swoop at their heads in punishment. Fred jostled a particularly violent Screech Owl who swooped from his cubby and began diving at him with its sharp talon raised. He fled around the room a few times, trying to avoid it while Ariana tried to scare it away with the handle of her tool. The owl eventually exhausted its anger and left via one of the large open windows, although not before Fred was left with a few bloody scratches on his arms. He joked, "Reminds me of my mother, that one…" The owls were initially quiet but began waking up as the sun set and they started expanding the mess as quickly as the two could clean it.

"How was the Slytherin teams practice? They any good this year?" Fred asked.

" I dunno…" said Ariana, "I didn't pay much attention."

"Do you remember what they practiced, maybe?" he snooped, trying to get some intel on the other team.

"Nope." she laughed. "Cassius wants us to play a game with him soon. With me and Susie that is. That means one other Slytherin player. Would that help? "

"Not really…we need to know their plays…but you play?"

"No…."

"Susie wants you too? You know if you don't want to do something you should just tell her.."

"What could go wrong?" she asked innocently.

Fred was flabbergasted. "Have you _ever_ played? Do you know what the Slytherins play like? I mean…." he abandoned his scrapper and began gesturing wildly with his hands, "Last season Flint nearly pulled Angelina off her broom by her hair! They don't really care who you are…" he seemed genuinely concerned. "You shouldn't play with them. I don't care if Susie's interested in one of 'em." he stated finally. He put his hands on his hips spiritedly and Ariana chuckled, wondering if it was a habit he had picked up from his mother. He really looked like a mother when he did that, which was rather peculiar for a teen-aged boy.

He waited for her to respond but she didn't, she just gave him a dubious look out of the corner of her eye. "…you won't take no for an answer will you?" he paced around for a while, hand to his chin, then decided on the appropriate course of action. "I'll help you get ready."

"What?" she asked.

"I'll teach you how to play."

"I mean I know how to fly, we're just going to throw the ball around. It can't be that hard…." she thought he was over reacting.

"If its two-on-two one person from each team will be chaser and the other will be a beater. They're going to use the Quaffle and a Bludger but probably leave the snitch out and just play to five or ten goals or something…Can you hit a Bludger without falling off your broom? Can you get hit by a Bludger without falling off your broom? Can you even throw the Quaffle without falling off? It's pretty hard! We'll practice."

Nearly thirty minutes later Filch returned. He flung open the door and scowled as he glanced around. "Did you lot get anything done in here?" he huffed and handed them back their wands, muttering about 'kids these days..' and something about shackles. They were dismissed and they ran down the hallway laughing, ecstatic they had survived their first of many detentions.

"Ugh! I feel so gross!" Ariana complained. "Me too." said Fred, "Wait!" he came to a sudden halt. "Hey! Go get a change of clothes and I'll meet you by the Ravenclaw common room. Wait by the door..I'll knock!" and with that Fred scampered away. He ducked behind a statue to their left and disappeared. Ariana examined it after he'd gone and found a hidden passage. He really did know this castle better than the back of his hand…

Wondering what he could be on about, she decided to do what he said and she would find out later. She went straight back to her room and grabbed her pajamas. Susie was reading in the common room and spotted Ariana as she waited. "What are you up to…?" she asked knowingly. Ariana just smiled and said, "I have no idea…."

They had gotten back to the dormitories exactly at curfew so whatever they were doing would be against the rules…but Ariana was excited. Most of the Ravenclaw students had already gone to bed. At nearly a half past nine Ariana heard the door knocker speak mutedly through the door, "You shouldn't be out of bed!" She waited in anticipation, wondering if was Fred. After a few moments there was a soft knock on the door. Ariana was the only one close enough to hear it. She jumped up, winked at Susie and slipped out of the common room quickly. Sure enough Fred and George were on the other side of the door. "Shhhhhhh" said George as soon as he saw her. Admittedly she was going to ask them how they snuck around so well but he hadn't even gotten a chance to utter a noise. "And follow quietly." said Fred. He held a strange map in his hands but he tried to conceal it from her curious glance. "And no nagging." added George. "No questions either." added Fred. Ariana stifled a laugh and followed. They waited at the top of the staircase as Fred pointed to something on the map. Ariana couldn't make out what it was over their broad shoulders. She clutched her pajamas close to her, determined not to get it snagged by any ruthless statues on this night outing. They quietly tiptoed down the Ravenclaw Tower stairs and when they emerged there was nothing in sight. They wandered down a back corridor and then back to the main hallway. Ariana was wondering why they were taking such a roundabout path but she held her questions for later, considering they had plainly laid out their rules of mischief making. However she did get a good look at the map when Fred wasn't looking. She then realized the secret to their success, and how they had been slipping around the castle without getting caught. Small names were traipsing across the map, leaving small footprints in their wake. It was ingenious! But, a particular pair of footprints caught her attention suddenly and she came to a stop. "Look there!" she pointed, "Peeves is coming! He's headed right this way. We've got to hide!"

Fred and George exchanged evil smirks and looked back at her gleefully. "Here take this." George passed one of their sweets to her. "Eat it and close your eye's and Peeves can't see you." By the look on Fred's face you would have guess he was in severe pain. He grimaced, went very red in the ears and shook a little, "_This_ is the secret to our success! But quick, you've got to eat it. Close your eye's like this" he covered his eyes in demonstration and they all threw the candy in their mouth. It seemed like a normal candy, so much so Ariana was beginning to feel very silly. But there were already candies that made you breathe fire and levitate, so was disappearing that strange? She looked at her limbs, waiting for them to change in anyway.  
"Oh, you can't tell, but Peeves won't see you. We've tested it...Go on. Close your eyes." Fred said and Ariana did as instructed. Just down the hall Peeves could be heard cussing and muttering weirdly as he bobbed towards them. As soon as she closed her eyes Fred and George uncovered theirs, exchanged glances and backed away silently, all but abandoning Ariana in the middle of the hallway. They waved at Peeves and beckoned him over, then ducked behind a suit of armor and tried to contain their giggles. Peeves, always up for mischief, hurried over whilst whistling nonchalantly. Ariana tensed as he got closer but suddenly the whistling stopped and she felt quite panicked. If Peeves caught them out after curfew they were in for a large amount of trouble. She crouched down to the floor and scampered over to the edge of the hallway to peek through her fingers, just in case she would no longer be invisible. She didn't see Fred or George anywhere, and honestly, her first thought was they must _really_ be invisible. She looked around for Peeves, but couldn't find him either.

"Looking for someone!?" Peeves screeched and shot down from the ceiling at her then sped past her, knocking down a portrait beside her as he went and nearly scaring Ariana out of her skin. She shrieked and fled but she would never be fast enough to out run a poltergeist. Peeves snatched a tapestry right off the wall and wrapped her up in it until she tripped and fell.

"Knock it off Peeves!" she hissed at him. If he didn't wake someone up with that horrible nails-on-chalkboard voice, knocking things over would.

"OOooohhh is the girly angryyyy" he cooed in a sing song voice just above her as she untangled herself from the tapestry. He came to a stop just above her and floated with his face uncomfortably close to hers. "Ooohhhh I know youu! I remember you! " Peeves jutted his fat little finger in her face, "There I was, minding my own business when some loony little lady comes flying down a staircase at me! What was I supposed to do?! I was scared out of my wits!" he crackled wickedly as he reminisced on their first meeting at the beginning of term.

"Well I don't see how trying to flip my skirt could have helped anything, Peeves..."

"Ohohhhhhh! This one's got a smart mouth, she does! We'll you don't look so smart covering your eyes and crouching in the middle of the hallway after curfew do you? No, you're not very bright for a Ravenclaw are you...? No no! Rude Ravenclaw you are! So rude! tehehee. I wonder what the professors will have to say about you being out after curfew!" he sang his words in an annoyingly high pitched voice.

"No!" she shouted but he took off in circles around her head repeating "Rude Ravenclaw!" over and over again. He came to a sudden stop and turned on her again, "Tell you what! A tit for a tat, what do you say about that? You do a task for me and I'll let you go free! No teachers!"

"What do you want, Peeves?" her voice was now very sharp as she was getting increasingly irritated by the deviant poltergeist.

"Hop on one leg and spin in a circle!"

She moaned and massaged her brow. How irritating.

"Go on! Go on and do it and I'll let you go!"

She grimaced and hopped on one foot in a circle then looked at him expectantly. She wondered where the other two had gone too but she didn't want to risk getting them in trouble - again, if they were caught. She kept quiet.

"Good going! Very impressive." he pelted a stink pellet at her and she barely dodged it. It exploded on the floor and she hurried away from the stench. He chucked another one just as Fred and George emerged from their hiding places chortling merrily.

"Hundreds of years here and all you could thing of was make her hop on one leg?" George laughed and Peeves chucked a stink pellet at him. It seemed like a strange sort of greeting for them. "That's good Peeves, no more stink pellets! We all ready stink!" Fred said. The conversation was taking a much more...conversational tone now and Ariana grew a bit furious. She was about to say something to that effect when George produced a candy from his pocket and gave it to her, effectively buying her silence, "They don't make you invisible..." he gave a wink. She ate it eagerly, nearly all of her irritation melting away.

"You honestly believed him!? Stupid girl! Ridiculous Ravenclaw!" Peeves did a summersault around her once more before shooting down the corridor, ricocheting off the walls as he went. "He's really rather nice..." Fred said as he watched him go. One glance at Ariana's incredulous face and he elaborated, "Well he didn't call the teachers! He could have! He would have for anyone else but us." Fred jabbed his thumb between him and his brother and they both beamed happily.

"What would you have done if he did call a teacher?" Ariana asked and Fred and George shrugged. "We figure it out as we go.." replied George.

They continued on until they reached a statue who's plaque read 'Boris the Bewildered' and then the ran down to the fourth door on the left. George knocked on the door and said, "Prefects always Prosper." and the door swung open. Inside was a bathroom. There were bathroom stalls but the majority of the room was taken up by a great pool like bath. The Weasley's shut the door behind them. George snatched the map from Fred's hands and Fred looked at him indignantly. "What's up with you, mate?" "I've got some unfinished business to attend to. Before you so rudely disturbed me..." He said while entering a bathroom stall. He waved the map up in the air behind him, "Reading material.." They laughed, although Ariana was a little grossed out.

"Well, go on!" Fred pushed her gently, farther into the room. She looked at him, confused. "This is the Prefects bathroom! Take advantage of it will you!" he laughed. Still unsure, Ariana wondered over towards the bath. It was laid in with gold and the hundreds of faucet had jewels encrusted on top. "These are perfumes, oils and salts," Fred said while pointing to one side, "These are shampoos, these are water type, color, and temperature, and this side is skin care."

"you know this place well don't you?" She leaned over the edge of the bath to get a better look at the faucets. "Color?" asked Fred. "Red." she decided.

"Hot?"

"yeah."

"Bubbles?"

"yeah!"

He then operated each oil faucet one at a time for her to smell. Once she sniffed closely and he turned it on all the way, dousing her with scented oils. She finally selected one and then they repeated the same thing for bath salts. Once they were satisfied with their creation. Fred called out, "Anyone coming George?" "All clear. But the Grey Lady and the Bloody Barron are up to something in the dungeon storage room… " Ariana wondered what apparitions could 'be up too.' "- and you should let your Susie friend know that Cassius is sneaking into the Slytherin girls dormitory…." Ariana jumped up, "What? How do you know?" George passed her the map under the bathroom stall wall. "Bottom right corner…" and sure enough a pair of footprints labeled 'Cassius Warrington' was creeping up a staircase to the girls dormitory. A name, ' Lia Everest' was written above a second pair of footprints that ran down the staircase to meet him. They walked together towards the common room and into a small unidentifiable room that looked suspiciously like a closet…

"Can this thing be wrong? What are they doing?" she asked desperately. Out of all of the Slytherins, Cassius was the one she disliked the least…which was saying something. Fred bounded over and glanced but only clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Oh thats no goodm..No doing anything about it now…."

"But, Susie…..!"

"Tell her tomorrow morning. Tell her not to listen to his bull.." offered George, still 'busy' in his stall.

"But…" Ariana felt horrible. She honestly didn't know what proof she had besides word of mouth and part of her wondered if Susie would believe her…

"Get in the bath before it gets too cold! Or are you going to run to Slytherin Hall and knock 'em around a bit? Just tell her tomorrow, or you can beat him up on the Quidditch field. That's the most socially acceptable way to blatantly attack someone…" Fred offered. "thats what we do..." George cooed from behind his stall. Fred went into a stall to give Ariana some privacy, although he didn't go without complaining, "Hurry uuppppp."

She undressed, rather uncomfortably. Part of her feared the Weasley Twins could spy through bathroom stalls. She hopped into the bath. It was the perfect temperature and the bubbles covered her up completely. The smell was amazing! It was something like sandalwood and roses. She submerged her head under the water and held it for a while, letting the stress roll off of her. When she finally came up again it was to the sound of Fred, "ARE YOU IN YETTT? You're worse than Ginny!" he howled. "I'm decent!" she shouted back. Both of the boys came out of the stalls. They walked over to her, George still playing the lookout and making sure the map didn't get wet. He put the map in his mouth and they took off their shoes, rolled up the hem of their pants and stuck their feet in her bath.

"Ewwww…" she said quietly.

"Problem? We can just drain the bath right now if you do…" George threatened jokingly.

"Where'd you get that map? Who's Ginny? How did you know the password for the Prefects bathroom?" she began her tirade of questions.

"Ginny's our little sister and the map…" said George. "The map's our secret. We won't tell you…" finished Fred. "Tell me! And give me back those Love potions by the way!" she whined. "Well….apparently Susie might be needing them for Cassius…" Fred elbowed George hard, "OWW," he wailed.

"And our brothers the Bighead boy, isn't he? We can give one of the Napping Nougats we've invented and he'll tell us anything...that's the weird side effect of those. We haven't quite figured that one out yet.." Fred said. "Maybe we should have named them 'No Secrets Napping Nougats' " George added. Ariana laughed, "What about Knowing K-nougats?" George frowned, evaluating the suggestion, " 's not too bad...anyway, you'd like Ginny."

"Maybe you can teach her to study and not be so caught up in stalking Potter…" laughed Fred.

Ariana laughed again. She couldn't think of a time she had had so much fun. The Weasley's told her about their life at the Burrow. About this one time when their father got caught gambling and their mother hexed him so everything he ate tasted like lemons for nearly a month. He still hates lemons.. Ariana laughed so hard at that. Once Ron caught Ginny attaching a photo of Harry to one of her pillows. He was making fun of her so bad, their mother gave him a Forgetfulness potion to spare her. Once Percy had to go to the bathroom but Ginny and their mother were hogging two bathrooms and George was sick in the last one so Percy went to the bathroom in the gardens and 'caught' a garden gnome. "I'll never look Percy in the eyes again.." laughed Ariana. "Percy could never look garden gnomes in the eye again! Mom had to use a spell to burn the bugger off him cause it wouldn't let go!" cried George. "Maybe that's why he's so nervous about everything. It gave him a complex.." added Fred.

Once there was a leak in the roof of Ron's room right above his bed two years ago and every time it rained he thought he'd wet himself. Fred and George started climbing onto the roof of the house at night and pouring water through the hole so he thought he was wetting himself every night and he never told anyone. He changed his sheets every morning so they would find it. Ariana was having the best time of her life. There was barely a moment when she wasn't laughing. She laughed at their stories till it was nearly twelve o'clock.

However, as they prepared to leave she felt strangely saddened, presumably because she didn't have any funny stories of her own to share. She longed for a life like Fred and Georges, at a home like the Burrow, where their parents loved them deeply.

The water was freezing, Ariana was shivering and everyone was yawning by the time they decided to head back to the dormitories. The boys retreated to the stalls for her to change into her pajamas. When they reemerged, they laughed at her cutesy pajamas, covered in little cats.

"Dumbledore bought them! Not me!" she flushed.

"Dumbledore?" Fred was suddenly confused as to what Dumbledore had to do with her pajamas.

She fretted for a while then said, "Yeah. He's my guardian right now, but no one is supposed to know. Got it?! Not even Susie knows…! He said people will assume I get special treatment..." They nodded in agreement, "Your secret is safe with us…just so long as our map stays a secret….Got it!?" he mocked. They laughed. The boys walked Ariana back to Ravenclaw tower, which wasn't very far away. They dropped her off at the staircase and George whispered to her, "go'night Ari!" and Fred, "Night, Lamb Shanks!" Ariana laughed as she retreated up the stairs, wondering how she ever ended up having such a strange nickname.

* * *

**Next Chapter: Tentacles and Tattle-tales **


	6. Chapter 6 - Tentacles and Tattletales

**Chapter 6 - Tentacles and Tattletales.**

The next morning Ariana dragged herself out of bed. Susie was already gone when she woke. She traveled to the Great Hall for breakfast alone and found her already seated. "You were out so late last night!" Susie griped, "What were you doing?"

Ariana gave her a weak and exhausted smile, "Making mischief I suppose…" She knew Susie wouldn't approve, but she still smiled as she thought of the night before and all they fun she had had. Susie didn't say anything but she pulled a face that plainly told Ariana what she thought. Thoughts of what George had shown her on their bewitched map came flooding back into her memory. She had to tell Susie what they'd seen but how could she tell her without mentioning Fred and George's map? The thoughts weighed heavily on her and everything she ate left a bitter taste in her mouth.

They sat in silence for a while until she decided on her plan of action. "We were sneaking around last night…" Ariana stumbled with her words then continued, "and..we saw Cassius meeting up with a girl…" she looked up to see how her friend was taking the news. Susie's mouth dropped open and after a moment's pause she quickly said, "…what do you mean?" "Umm..we saw him meeting up with a girl after curfew ….and they went into a closet together….."

Ariana could see Susie's heart crumble in front of her. The blood drained from her olive skin and she pursed her lips tightly until they were a thin line. Ariana felt horrible. But she had to tell Susie now, before something worse happened. After the blood drained from her face it suddenly filled back up with it. She puffed her cheeks out which made her look a bit like a grapefruit. Ariana gave her friend a moment to recover herself. She didn't know what to say. Susie's eyes shot up and looked Ariana in the face, rather heatedly, "Do you have any proof?" It was exactly what Ariana thought Susie would want, solid proof of Cassius's betrayal.

"No…" she said then thought about it, "..But Fred and George saw too.." "Where did he meet her?" "In the Slytherin Dungeons.."

"What were you doing there?" she asked, quickly growing irate with her questions. "…Just looking.." replied Ariana completely baffled as to why she was getting fussed at.

"Then you have no idea what he was doing…why would you just assume he was up to something bad? That's very judgmental of you.." she stood up quickly and left. Ariana was left sitting in her seat completely stumped.

She dragged herself to Charms class alone and dead on her feet. She got less than five hours of sleep and Hogwarts classes took a lot out of her. She felt like one of Hogwarts ghosts. She arrived to class moments before being late and looked around the room. She was shocked when she looked for her vacant seat next to Susie and realized she had been abandoned. Susie was seated next to Cassius, deep in conversation, her back to the door. Their usual seat was also abandoned in the back of the class. Ariana signed, feeling suddenly like the boggart was a fortune teller.

Ariana felt as if it was the ultimate betrayal of the teenage world.

Why was she mad at her? Did she really think Ariana had made it all up? Why?

She sat alone and attempted to take notes while trying desperately to stay awake. Halfway through class she stopped as a messy handwriting that did not belong to her began to overtake her paper.

_Wrong quill!_

She laughed and wrote back to Fred. _You don't like my Charms notes?_

_Not when they're on my History of Magic notes….. _He replied and she chuckled again, suddenly realizing it would look quite strange that she is chuckling at her Charms notes.

_You're taking notes? I'm surprised!_ Ariana confided in Fred and told him how Susie had reacted to the news earlier this morning. He didn't reply for some time and Ariana guessed he, in turn, was confiding in George. Their chat helped keep her awake through an especially long Charms class, and she switched between quills as she took notes and chatted with Fred. When Fred did respond to her it was a particularly unhelpful. _Maybe she'll get over it…_

Ariana didn't respond for the rest of the class, although she didn't truly know what advice anyone could offer that would be helpful. Ariana spent the rest of her class time struggling with her charms and feeling notably alone.

When class ended Ariana's mind wondered to what their seating arrangements would be like in Transfiguration. She slowly trekked her way through the castle towards the ground floor Transfiguration classroom and when she arrived she was surprised to see someone had decided that for her. Angelina Johnson was already seated in Susie's usual seat. An expression of confusion wafted over Ariana's face and she turned in the doorway to glance at Susie, who was a few steps behind her. Ariana then turned and walked into the classroom towards her usual seat. Angelina spoke loudly enough for Ariana and Susie to hear, "Sorry! Mind if I sit here?" Then she glanced meanly at the Gryffindor girl she typically sat with, "Me and Alicia got into a fight.." The Gryffindor girl 'Alicia' glanced back harshly but Ariana spotted a slightly playful look in her eye and wondered as to whether they were being genuine or not. She thought it through for a moment and then she supposed Fred may have told them and she glanced at the twins. Both of the them were conveniently preoccupied with their transfiguration books. Ariana sat down slowly next to Angelina and almost forgot to respond to the girl. "Sure…" she said quickly, she gave Angelina a soft smile and began to lay out her book and parchment. Professor McGonagall began lecturing and Ariana started taking notes. She found herself yawning more and more. The room was very warm due to a lit fire behind Professor McGonagall's desk and Ariana rested her head against her hand for a moment. What seemed like a few seconds later she woke from a sharp jab in the ribs. "Owww!" Ariana howled and glanced around at Angelina who buried her nose in her notes. Ariana looked up and saw Professor McGonagall staring right at her with a heated expression on her face. She had been talking and she hadn't heard a word of it. Ariana quickly busied herself with her notes and was distressed to find they were all smudged by her elbow, and her vest was now stained with black ink. She grabbed her quill and found her hand was wet with her own drool. She whipped it off and rubbed the sleep from her face. "No?" asked Professor McGonagall in a very shrill voice, "Then I suppose you would like to come to the front of the class and show us then?" Angelina snorted next to her and dumbfounded and possibly still dreary from sleep she said, "uhm.…no thank you…?" The class erupted in laughter. Fred and George were among the loudest. "No thank you?" "Did she really just say that?!" they enthused loudly. Ariana blushed and Professor McGonagall continued, " I am fully aware that you have detention. Be that as it may, you may not sleep during my class. Now come here and demonstrate to us how to transform this crow into a canary."

Ariana gulped loudly. This wasn't going to go well. She slowly raised out of her seat and walked to the front of the class, half hoping she would die before she got there and be excused of the coming failure. She stood before the crow as it hooted at her affectionately. She raised her wand and twirled it, keeping her mind concentrated on canaries. As expected, nothing happened. She tried again. Then she tried again and again and was unsuccessful each time. Ariana glanced up at Professor McGonagall, trying to swallow the lump in her throat and wondering how long she was going to have her in the front of the class, waving her wand before she would be dismissed. She was about to try again when Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and said shakily, " …well, it is a bit complex. Return to your seat, Flamel." Ariana walked back to her seat without lifting her eyes from her feet. She sat down quietly in her seat and tried to pass the class without speaking to Angelina despite the fact that she tried to give her an encouraging smile.

Class ended shortly after that and everyone rushed to leave. Ariana packed her bags quickly and headed for the door. When she walked out of the castle the cold September breeze struck her and quickly stilled her aching heart. This school was really beginning to be too much for her. She enjoyed the walk out to Hagrid's hut alone. Being at Hogwarts meant you were constantly surrounded by other students, everywhere you went. It was one of the first moments of privacy she had since she had been at Hogwarts.

Hagrid was already waiting for his students. When Ariana arrived, Hagrid smiled at her, "You'll be havin' your detention with me tonight, so be here at 7 o'clock, mh'kay?" she nodded and smiled thinking whatever her detention for tonight it was bound to be entertaining.

The other students slowly arrived and after a few moments they started class. With a big grunt Hagrid began his instructions, " T'day we're gonna be restockin' the Black Lake. You all know about the Giant Squid in there, well he eats all the fish and we've got to replace them from time to time. Fullow me!" he said and led them towards the docks on the Black Lake. Once the arrived they all crowded around the shore. Ariana stood on the far end of the dock looking into the water, wondering if she could see the bottom, however the water was far too murky and the surface much too glassy for her to see much at all. Perhaps that's how it got it's name. Despite this is looked very beautiful and she was quickly lost in thought.

She suddenly felt two hands slap down on each of her shoulders and give her a gentle push. " 'ELLO, Ari!" cried Fred as he laughed. Surprised from being snuck up on, she jumped and gave a soft shriek as her feet lost their grip on the edge of the dock. However, expecting this, Fred clenched his fist in her cloak and pulled her back, laughing all the while. He turned her and walked with her away from the dock and gave her an affectionate pat on the shoulder, then left his arm there.

Ariana didn't know whether to be mad or laugh or blush because of his antics anymore. He really left her head spinning.

"You're not paying much attention to the teacher, are you? Didn't you learn your lesson last class?"

She unwillingly decided on blushing and her words failed her, much like her transfiguration spells…

He laughed and led her over towards his brother, Lee and Angelina who were towards the back of the group.

"Hello." Ariana greeted them all and gave a soft smile.

Angelina in particular returned a huge smile that quickly became infectious to Ariana. Fred kept his arm around Ariana for a few moments before giving her another pat and letting them fall to his sides. Ariana's stomach felt very strange. Warm and fluttery..?

Fred began chatting with Lee and Angelina turned to Ariana.

"So you like this class, eh?" she asked warmly.

"Well..It's a lot easier than Transfiguration…" Ariana said softly. "I KNOW! I'm so bad at it!" Angelina enthused. Ariana suddenly felt much better about her failure earlier, despite having seen Angelina's transfiguration before and knowing she was quite proficient at it. She returned Angelina's warm smile and the group returned their attentions to Hagrid.

"Now pair up into teams of three and grab a boat. Each of you take one 'o these. Don't 'urt yourself now!" he held up a bag filled with rather dull and small knives. Ariana wondered if it was a good idea to have school kids all on a boat in the middle of the lake and armed with knives. She shrugged it off as she was beginning to do every Care of Magical Creatures class. "An' don't go using your wands! If you drop them it'll be a real trouble getting' 'em back!" Hagrid added.

Having not paid attention, no one in their group had any idea what they were supposed to be doing but they quickly paired up. Fred whispered something to Lee and George then hurried over to them.

"Angelina! " Cried George mockingly sweet as he ran over, "Be my partner, will you?"

Angelina chuckled and agreed. They snatched up Alicia Spinnet and hurried off to go find a boat.

Fred clapped his hands, "Well! Let's get going then!" and he and Lee ran off to get their boat. Ariana stood there for a second, then smiled and ran after them. Having been late to the game, there were no decent boats left. They had to choose between one with a questionable crack in the bottom and one that looked as if it were about to rot apart. Fred and Lee jumped into the later of the two and Ariana joined close behind. Fred sat towards the front and Lee in the back with Ariana in the middle. The boys eagerly grabbed the paddles and began racing the others towards the center of the lake. "Last one to the center of the lake has to lick my boot!" Lee cried ecstatically. George, Alicia and Angelina were the only competitors that rose to their challenge. Ariana laughed as they sped quickly through the water. George, who was having Alicia and Angelina row for him, as he was too busy being 'the captain' of their tiny boat, shouted jests at them as they jockeyed for position. He was trying to stand in the small, rocking boat whilst conducting them like an orchestra.

"You Plonker! You think you can bet us?!" he jeered at them and Ariana began laughing uncontrollably. Fred and Lee exchanged a wink with each other when she wasn't looking. They sped on for a few moments until the Giant Squid languidly rolled one of his tentacles just above the water before them.

"WOAAAHHHHH!" shouted George's boat as they barely missed it. Fred, Lee and Ariana were headed directly for it and had not time to change paths.

"Brace yourselves!" Yelled Lee as their boat collided with the tentacle with a sickening crack. Ariana was nearly thrown out of her seat. The main stud running through the bottom of the boat splintered around the middle where the boat had struck, just below Ariana's seat. Black water began rushing it below her and Lee began screaming wildly, " I don't swim well! I don't swim well!"

Ariana pulled her wand, thinking quickly, she gave it a whirl and said, "_Fluito_ _Incantatum!_" with all of the will she had. The planks in the rickety boat gave way and Fred and Ariana slipped into the Black Lake. Lee screamed shrilly and splashed violently in the water, but he only sank halfway in.

"Oh!" Lee said, pleasantly surprised, "…That's neat…"

Fred howled with laughter and Ariana tried desperately to keep her concentration despite the freezing water. Lee began laughing and taking languid arm strokes through the water. "Get in a boat!" Ariana shrieked just as her spell faded and Lee was dropped fully into the Black Lake. Lee panicked again and weighed down by his sopping wet cloak, quickly began to sink. George, having rushed over, quickly reached out and pulled him up by the back of his shirt. Alicia and Angelina worked to pull Fred and Ariana into the boat. With the combined weight of them all, the rickety vessel was barely above water. It was truly a sight to see. "Nice bit of wand work back there, Ari!" said George and he gave her a pat on the back. It was so cramped with six of them in such a tiny boat anyone could reach out and touch any of the other five on the nose without moving, although George had to squeeze is arm past Lee and Alicia to do it.

The rest of the group coursed in agreement, "Yea, good going!" "Nice thinking!" and a jokingly reproachful, "Well, I could'a done it too!" from Fred. Lee turned to her, with some difficulty albeit, and pulled a tearful face, "You…saved my life…" He jokingly sniffled and went to grab her in a tight hug but Fred, directly behind Ariana, put up a soaking wet boot and hit him square in the chest. "Come off it, you slimy sack of Slytherin shi-"FRED!" shouted Angelina as they all began to laugh.

"Dung." Fred corrected and he began shaking their overcrowded boat from side to side, threatening to throw Lee back in the lake and frightening them all.

Hagrid hurried over to halfheartedly scolded them. He brought them back to the shore and gave Fred, Lee and Ariana his own boat.

"An' none of ya' even took the net of fish out there with ya'! " Hagrid lamented. They all glanced around and realized they were supposed to be taking out a net, ladened with new stocks of fish, and cutting them loose. The hungry Giant Squid was flailing its limbs around, catching the fish as they were released, and terrifying most of the students.

They all laughed - excluding Hagrid of course, then they dragged their nets out into the lake. Lee was rather reluctant to get back into a boat.

"You promise no more funny stuff? Right?" he begged Fred.

"Of course!" he agreed then they clambered into the boat. As soon as they were away from the shore, Fred began shaking the boat again, terrorizing his friend. Although they were soaking wet and the air was frigid, Ariana didn't even have time to notice. She was laughing too hard at both of the boys antics. Ariana was leaned over the boat, gripping tightly to the netting which was filled with swirling fish. The net pulled painfully downwards as the fish swam around and she did her best to hold onto it. They were nearly ten meters from the shore when the Giant Squid shot a tentacle out of the water and then back down, wrapping it around the net of fish.

"AHHhh!" Ariana screamed and held on as best she could. Fred abandoned his ores and grabbed her around the middle so she didn't fall in…again. "Just let it go!" he shouted and she did. The net and nearly sixty fish were pulled down into the depths of the Black Lake. The three of them stared at it as it disappeared from view.

"Well….that's that, I suppose!" said Fred cheerfully as he wiped his hands of it. Their boat returned to shore, suspiciously earlier than the others, however not before Fred and Lee tried their best to grab one of the squids tentacles as it flowed past them.

"I'll catch it one day!" said Fred, quite determinedly. Lee nodded in agreement but Fred called him out, "You'll have to learn to swim first, mate!"

They laughed.

Ariana wished Care of Magical Creatures could last forever. When Hagrid dismissed them, she was sad to leave. The group exchanged goodbyes and Ariana began to look forward to tomorrows class. Once she had left them, the air seemed to grow particularly frigid and she hurried across the school grounds towards the greenhouses, clutching her cloak around her. When she entered the greenhouse she was still soaking wet, particularly her shoes and long socks were dripping as she walked. A few Ravenclaws and Slytherins gave her strange looks as she passed but she didn't even notice. She was still glowing from the fun she had had. Ariana came to a stop as she spotted Erma's bug eyes, enhansed by her large spectacles. She laughed and went to join Erma, who was ecstatic. They partnered together and Ariana quickly came to learn that Erma loved Herbology. She didn't mind getting her hands dirty, which was unfortunate because she would also run her hands through her light blonde hair and leave streaks of grime. "You're going to sprout roots and turn into a plant yourself if you keep doing that.." Ariana joked, which surprised even herself. They both laughed and Ariana secretly wished she could tell Fred her joke. Ariana shared her adventures from Care of Magical Creatures class with Erma who greatly enjoyed her tales. Halfway through class Susie tapped Ariana on the shoulder. Ariana twirled around and gave her a smile. She wasn't going to hold any grudges against her friend. No one else can understand how hard something is for you; especially the truth. And Ariana knew that.

"..do you..Do you still want to play Quidditch?"

Ariana said softly, "If you want me to."

"What about tomorrow? First and second period? " Ariana nodded. They both didn't have classes on Wednesday morning. Susie quickly returned to Cassius' side and Ariana began searching through her bag for a scrap of parchment and a special quill. She had tied a red ribbon (for Gryffindor of course..) around the quill so she could tell it apart from a regular quill.

_Fred, Susie wants to play Quidditch with the Slytherins tomorrow morning..will you teach me?_

She was surprised when Fred began to scribble back almost immediately. _It will cost you…but yes._

_That was a quick response! _She laughed as she wrote him back.

_Charms…so dull…_

She laughed again. Erma joined in after reading over her shoulder and she marveled at the charmed quill.

Fred and Ariana arranged to eat their dinner quickly and go immediately to the Quidditch pitch. They would only have an hour at best before having to hurry to detention, but since they were meeting at Hagrid's hut it wouldn't be too difficult. Fred said he'd meet her at the field with two brooms; he was able to get into the broom closet. Once class was over, Ariana walked back to the castle with Erma trotting happily by her side. She was happy to note her clothes had dried during her class in the warm greenhouses. Ariana and Erma said their goodbyes and sat at their separate tables. Ariana ate as quickly as possible and decided to head down to the Quidditch pitch early, she couldn't spot Fred at the Gryffindor table, but she could wait on the field if he wasn't there yet. She hurried from the Great Hall and out onto the grounds, her heart pounding in her chest for some unknown reason. Ariana wondered what her father would think of her now, not only consorting with blood traitors but actually looking forward to being with them. For once in her life Ariana took a deep breath and decided she didn't care what anyone thought.

* * *

**Next Chapter: The Difference Between Guts and Gits**


	7. Chapter 7- Difference of Guts and Gits

**Chapter 7 - The Difference Between Guts and Gits**

Ariana glanced around one of the large columns that lined the Quidditch Pitch and scanned the field for anyone. Spotting no one, not even Fred, she began to slowly walk out onto the field. She was surprised to realize how large it was. Even from the stands it was hard to comprehend how large the field was. There was a lump forming in her throat from her nerves and she was fiddling with hem of her Ravenclaw vest. It suddenly hit her that this would be the first time her and Fred were alone. Would it be awkward? Or would it be comfortable which in and of itself is strange to Ariana.

By the time she had walked nearly one third of the field she spotted a flash of red darting through the sky above her. Ariana watched as he completed a quick lap around the field then Fred landed softly in front of her. His face was flushed from excitement and he gushed, "Have a look at this!" he brandished two brooms in front of him, one he had been riding and the other he held in his hand. Ariana inspected it. They were liquored black and very sleek. On the top of the handle of the broom silver letters spelled_ Nimbus 2001 _ in dramatic letters. "Oooohhh" Ariana cooed, pretending she knew what this meant and was excited by it.

"I nicked 'em from the Slytherin's broom closet!" he enthused and she laughed at his excitement. His eyes sparkled mischievously and he was grinning from ear to ear.

"Well!" he beamed, "Come on then!" and he jumped on his broom. Ariana followed suit and mounted hers. She kicked off the ground and slowly rose in the air. The broom did handle well. She slowly leaned forward and shifted her weight, the broom smoothly moved forward. Quickly getting a feel for the broom she started off at a decent pace for a practice lap around the field. Fred followed close behind her, keeping a watchful eye on her. She quickened her pace, her heart fluttering strangely with excitement. It felt as if someone had released a herd of puffskeins and they were rebounding off her ribcage. It had been nearly three years since she had ridden a broom but it was once her favorite pastime. She sped up even faster, the ground becoming a buzzing whir below her and the wind blowing stingingly on her face, causing moisture to form in the corners of her eyes. She realized she was grinning from ear to ear. She turned back to look at Fred, and he was right behind her laughing at her. She took her eye away from her path for too long and when she looked back she was headed for a column. She overcorrected and the broom began to wobble violently. She panicked and sat up straight, coming to a sudden halt and nearly falling off her broom. Fred whirled around quickly and met her face to face. "Woah! You alright there? You nearly lost it!" he seemed sincerely panicked, as was she. What a sensitive broom! "…Wow…." was all she could breathe out.

She sat there gasping for air for a while until her gasping became laughter and Fred joined in with her. "No sudden movements with a broom like this, got it?" he advised. He brought her over to the far end of the field and over to a very large and worn trunk of equipment. He opened it and began explaining each ball and its purpose. She smiled at him as he instructed her, he was informative, helpfully non-assuming, and very open. She rested her hands on the handle of the broomstick as she floated above him and then she rested her chin on her hands, listening intently.

"And this one's a Bludger, the beaters - that's me and George on the Gryffindor team, Duncan Inglebee and Jason Samuels for Ravenclaw. We keep the Bludger away from the others. And then Chasers, that's what Cassius is, and Angelina, Alicia and Katie Bell for Gryffindor. They try to shoot a goal. Let's just try holding the Quaffle and making an attempt, eh?" He jumped to his feet with the Quaffle in hand and mounted his broom. "Try to get it from me, Lamb Shanks!" he taunted and shot off across the field. Ariana shot after him, leaning close to the broom handle. Fred began twirling and doing barrel rolls to avoid her. She tried desperately to catch him but only getting as close as the end of his broomstick before he spun around in the opposite direction. He went towards the goal, readied the Quaffle and gave it a throw. It passed through the goal smoothly and plummeted to the ground. Ariana dived for it, caught it deftly and then rose back up to where Fred was. She grinned at him then sped away, he laid chase behind her, laughing. She was nearly at the other goals by the time Fred caught up to her. She attempted a throw with all of her strength but it was nowhere near the goals and fluttered through the air slowly, as all of her strength was not very much. Fred rose up and caught it skillfully. He swung his broom around to face her, grinning like a ghoul and the Quaffle tucked under his arm. She snapped her fingers in a feigned frustration and they flew back to the ground laughing. "It was the wind…" she excused herself of her horrible throw. "It's always the wind!" he joked. Ariana looked at him with an indignant look and they laughed again. "Well! Anyway, you're not going to win against a house team, I think the goal is for you to say alive! So let's practice with the Bludger and a little bit of bumping." He coughed awkwardly and randomly began blushing from ear to ear, Ariana wondered why…

He jumped off his broom and bounded over to the trunk of supplies and opened it again. "C'mon! Get over here!" he said and she followed suit. He reached grabbed a small wooden bat and then reached for a ball which was tied down. He unfastened it and looked at her, "Might want to get a bat.." and she grabbed one. He released the Bludger and it went flying into the air. "Now, try not to get hit. The concept isn't so hard, its actually doing it that's the difficult part. " he jumped on his broom and flew away, the Bludger streaked down the field after him. Ariana jumped on hers too, Beaters Bat in one hand, and flew after him. Midfield the Bludger abandoned Fred and flew towards her. She stopped and readied herself, both hands on the bat, however, it was flying from below her and was headed right for her legs. She quickly flew away and turned, the Bludger came burling straight towards her face. Fred spotted her and came flying over to her as quickly as he could, but he could not get there quick enough to stop the Bludger if she missed. With both hands, she wound up her bat behind her and swung at it, giving the Bludger all she had. She struck it and the bat vibrated harshly in her hands. The Bludger was flung back nearly ten meters but then stopped. It began hurtling back towards her just as hard. She screamed, fumbled and the Beaters bat fell from her hands. She turned her broom around and shot off, away from the Bludger. She passed Fred who was nearly falling off his broom laughing at her. He easily nocked the Bludger back again. Ariana spotted her bat below her as it flittered towards the ground then bounced as it hit the ground. She flew down and picked it up again as Fred called to her, "Come here and stay by me. If you miss I can get it off you. And _try_ not to DROP-YOUR-BAT!" he quipped. Ariana stayed by his side and he moved out of the way when she was ready to take on the Bludger herself. They flew around the field bouncing the Bludger back and forth between them and then Fred started diving around her randomly and shooting the Bludger at her. Every now and then he warned her, "Brace yourself!" and knocked into her from the side. Ariana's arms soon grew tired. She was about to ask for a recess when Fred called it off. He was wrestling the Bludger back into the trunk when he gave her some great advice, " If you can't fight a Bludger off when it's on your trail just dive around the other teams beater or chaser. Two birds with one stone! That move's called the Bruise and Lose; you bruise the other player and lose the Bludger. " Ariana chuckled but she barely had any energy left to put in it. Her limbs felt like lead and they still had detention to serve.

"Need help?" Ariana offered as Fred finished locking up the Quidditch balls. "Nah, I'll get this back and go put up the broomsticks. You head on over to Hagrid's Hutt. I won't be late!" He looked as if he was about to leave but he paused and looked at her chuckling.

"What?" her face turned scarlet.

"Nothing. You didn't do so bad! …You might survive playing Slytherin…." he laughed. They stood staring at each other for a moment, sweaty and sore, smelling of dirt, grass and the soft Hogwarts air. Ariana's arms hung limply at her side as she stared at him curiously. He laughed again patted both hands on her shoulders affectionately then he gently pulled her forward a step and gave her a light peck on the forehead. It happened so quickly Ariana had to wonder if it had happened at all, or it was simply her imagination.

He bewitched the trunk to make it light as a feather and trail along behind him, mounted his broom with her's in his hand and he shot off across the field.

Ariana stood completely still on the Quidditch Field for quite a while. She felt as if she had abruptly hit the ground after having fallen of the highest tower of the castle. Her ears were ringing, her face felt as if it was lit on fire, eyes were stinging, body sore, heart pounding desperately and her mouth was suddenly very dry. A lump formed in her throat and she couldn't manage to swallow or breathe. She wasn't particularly happy, or sad or upset. She knew of no name to describe how she felt.

An idiom fluttered through her mind._ '_A light shone in the darkness and the darkness comprehend it not._'_

All things were suddenly more powerful than they were moments ago. The scene around her was overwhelming her with its beauty; the castle, the forest, the sun setting around her, but also her fears abruptly seemed momentous and horrible.

She remained like that for a moment, in the middle of the Quidditch field, enjoying the unexpected splendor of it all as it seemed to rush through her very being, then she took a deep breath, shook it off and began her journey to Hagrid's Hut.

When she arrived Hagrid was waiting for the two, sitting on the step of his hut playing a flute. He seemed very distant and his eyes were red. Ariana wondered if this had to do with the incident with Malfoy and the Hippogriff. Fang sat at Hagrid's side and stood to bark as Ariana walked towards them. She gave Fang an affectionate pat on the head and he slobbered on her.

"Hello Hagrid!" she greeted cheerfully, filled with some strange afterglow of energy and happiness.

" 'Ello. Fred on his way?" His voice was scratchy and more gruff than was usual. She nodded and he continued, " Then I'll wait for him here, why don't you take Fang and go into the forest straight behind me hut. Fang'll know w'ere to go." She nodded again and called, "C'mon Fang!" and Fang jumped up and led her towards the forest. She hurried close behind him. It was still light out and the Dark Forest wasn't too dark yet but she didn't like the idea of getting lost. A tapping on her chest as she walked reminded her of the two Amiculus Amulets she wore around her neck. She hadn't given one to Susie because of their spat. Now she was regretting it because it would have shown her the way to the castle if she got lost.

She trekked through the forest, hot on Fang's heals, stepping over branches, bushes and around trees of all shapes and sizes. Creatures within the forest were beginning to wake as dusk fell around them. Birds, or whatever creatures lived in the greenery above Ariana's head, were chirping strange and unfamiliar trills. Fang soon reached a clearing and began bounding away from her. She hurried to catch up but stopped as figures moved all around her. What she had mistaken for bushes suddenly stood up to their full height. A gargled noise escaped her mouth as she realized she had run into a pack of glaring Hippogriffs. Quickly, she spotted the chains around their necks tethering them to nearby trees and she relaxed. There were nearly eight of them all chained in a circle, following the edges of the clearing all around her. Ariana lost track of Fang and began to whirl around in search of him.

"Uagh!" she screamed as she turned and locked eyes with a full grown man. He was standing behind her, she hadn't heard him approaching at all. Ariana's hand shot into her pocket of her cloak and she quickly drew out her wand and pointed it directly at him.

"Woahh! Woah! Hold on there!" the man held his hands up and waved them, "I surrender! I surrender. " He chuckled but Ariana didn't lower her wand. The man was in his mid twenties and stood much taller than Ariana. He had shaggy dark red hair and was sporting a bit of stubble for a beard. He wore a brown leather jacket and plain blue jeans that were ripped and stained from labor.

Spotting her hesitation, he joked, "Do I really seem that dangerous? Or is this a stick up?" Fang barked loudly then bounded over to the man. He scratched Fang on the head lovingly as the dog sat down by his side. Ariana lowered her wand but didn't put it away.

"You trust the dog but not me?" he laughed again but Ariana didn't laugh along. She didn't like the idea of being alone in the woods with this stranger. He wasn't wearing wizard clothing and she didn't see a wand anywhere.

"Well.." he started but paused, " I don't know that I blame you…animals don't lie do they? That's rather wise of you..I'm Charlie." he held out his hand to her. Very stiffly she walked towards him, switching wand hands and shook the man's hand. He smiled and winked at her. She gasped, as a fifteen year old girl she couldn't help but succumb a little to the charisma of a twenty year old, whether he meant to be charming or not.

"You're rather reticent…..reserved…" he withdrew his hand and grinned. " And a Ravenclaw!" he nodded at her robes. "What did a girl like you do to get herself detention?"

There was a sudden tremor in the bush beside Charlie, directly from where Ariana had entered the glade. Both of their attentions shot towards it and a head of bright red, messy hair sprung from the bush.

"FRED!" Ariana exclaimed.

"Well! That explains it doesn't it!?" said Charlie exasperatedly.

Fred looked around the glade, spotted Ari, the Hippogriffs, Fang and ,"CHARLIE?!" he jumped from the bush. "CHARLIE! What the bloody hell are you doin' here?! Blimey! When's the last time I've seen ya', mate?!" They both grinned from ear to ear….quite similarly. The boys exchanged a Roman handshake, patted each other on the shoulder; Ariana now saw where he got it from; and laughed.

Ariana stood silently in the middle of the glade exchanging glances with a few of the confused Hippogriffs as Hagrid emerged from the tree line. "Oh good. Yer made it here!" Hagrid said as he spotted Ariana. "W'as with the wand?"

Ariana glanced down at her wand awkwardly then put it away. She looked at Charlie and they made eye contact; he chuckled. She gulped and looked away as her face flushed. Fred glanced between the two questioningly and walked over to take Ariana's side in a paternal way.

"What are we doing here?" Ariana asked.

They all exchanged glances for a moment until Hagrid spoke, "….well…ya' know 'bout …the 'incident' with that Malfoy boy. Well..the Ministry is makin' me get rid of all me Hippogriffs..'cept Buckbeak.." his voice cracked and he turned away to blow his nose loudly in a handkerchief. Charlie continued for him, "So he contacted the company I work for in Romania to take them off his hands."

"Are WE going to fly these Hippogriffs all the way to _Romania_!?" exclaimed Fred.

"No." Charlie laughed. "Just past over the Dark Forest..my company didn't want to spend too many workers on this operation…what with the Dementors and all…"

"But it's okay if school children do it?" asked Ariana indignantly.

"Trust me! I've been in detentions much more dangerous that this one!" laughed Fred. Fred whispered to her and told her about a time when Charlie had to come and take a baby dragon off Hagrid's hands two years ago. Ariana looked at Charlie in awe. _**Dragons!**_Fred quickly wished he hadn't mentioned it and glared at Charlie.

Hagrid regained control over himself and continued, " An' I thought at least one good thing could come of this whole Buckbeak ordeal, 'least Fred could have an excuse to see his big brother..eh?"

Fred smiled genuinely at Hagrid, " Thanks, Hagrid!"

"Well! I bes' be off! You can head back to the castle once Charlie's done with ya'." and with that, Hagrid left them.

Fred turned to his big brother and said, "Right, so you'll handle all this and we'll just be on our way!" he went to shake Charlie's hand on it but Charlie slapped his hand out of the way. He laughed a great burly laugh at Fred, "You're the same, I see."

"And you too." Fred said glumly.

"Hagrid said you guys covered Hippogriffs right? Did either of you ride them?" they shook their heads 'no' and Fred snidely said, "But Ari kissed them!" Ariana flushed and looked away feeling very bubbly. Charlie glanced at her, laughed and then glanced back at his brother, "You jealous?" and he bowed for a Hippogriff beside him. Fred glowered, he didn't like it when the tables were turned against him.

Ariana mimicked Charlie and bowed for a Hippogriff near her. She kept eye contact with the great beast but she saw from the corner of her eye that Charlie's Hippogriff had already accepted him. She waited patiently and slowly the Hippogriff returned her bow. Ariana slowly moved to scratch it on its head. "That one's a girl, you can tell by the plumage on the crown of its head; its smaller than the males." Charlie informed her. Fred reached out a hand to Ariana's Hippogriff and it hissed darkly at him. He quickly bowed deeply without maintaining eye contact, and the Hippogriff began stomping its feet angrily. Charlie yanked him out of the Hippogriffs reach by his cloak. Charlie chastised him and corrected his form. "Now, Ari, was it? See if your Hippogriff let you ride her." Charlie said and Fred muttered something inappropriate that earned him a smack in the back of the head from Charlie. The Hippogriff extended one of its great legs and bowed low for her to hop on its back. She grabbed a handful of feathers and pulled herself up. Charlie handed Fred two goggles, "Put these on, it will help you see at night." and he sent Fred to reintroduce himself to the Hippogriff. This time he succeeded and the Hippogriff shifted drastically as it bowed in return. Fred unfastened it from the tree, jumped on its back and scooched in closely behind Ariana. He wrapped his arms around her middle as Charlie mounted his Hippogriff, "When we're up there just follow me. Don't wonder and one of you always keep an eye on me." The two put on their goggles.

"How do I look? Handsome?" asked Fred.

"Like a bug." Ariana said with a laugh.

"Good. We're mates then."

Charlie briskly nudged the Hippogriff around the hips with his feet and it spread its great wings and flapped them forcefully a few times, then rose roughly into the air with each swing of its wings. Ariana watched in awe as he rose up into the air and circled them. Ariana shot a look at Fred, looking for reassurance. Fred nodded and grinned at her in response. Ariana gave the Hippogriff a nudge in its hips and it ambled around under them. Ariana gave it another nudge with a bit more confidence and it began to stretch out its wings. Ariana gripped its feathers with all of her strength and it began beating its wings, preparing for flight. The Hippogriff trotted and pushed harshly off the ground and they took flight. Fred and Ariana's bodied bobbled in the air with each flap of its wings. Ariana leaned her body towards Charlie and Charlie steered his Hippogriff deeper over the Dark Forest. They both gasped in awe as they soared above the dark forest. "Now I get why he told us to keep an eye on him.." said Ariana. The Dark Forest was easier to understand from above. It was a dark myriad of trees and creatures milling about. You could see the giant spiders crawling around below and they spotted a troupe of centaurs. At one point Fred yelled, "Unicorn!" as he pointed to a soft glow to a distant part of the forest. It was a real struggle to keep her eyes on Charlie as they flew. It was nearly twenty minutes until they could see a distant glow on the horizon. They soon found themselves flying over the far edge of the forest where a large open air lorry sat waiting for them. It was huge and had large bars over the top that the Hippogriffs couldn't get through. The inside was packed with straw, meats and buckets of water. Landing was more difficult than they had expected. The Hippogriffs seemed reluctant to stop flying. Charlie expertly landed his Hippogriff and Ariana tried to do the same, with little luck. Their Hippogriff was very stubborn and kept circling instead of landing. "Put your weight back on its hindquarters!" shouted Charlie from the ground. He began coercing his Hippogriff into the lorry.

"You _fancy_ him don't you?!" Fred questioned incredulously.

"No!" Ariana shouted much too earnestly.

"YOU DO!" Fred shouted. "But he's _old, _Lamb Shanks! And he's _CHARLIE_! You can't fancy him!"

"Shut up, Fred." Ariana shouted feeling as if she wanted to jump off the Hippogriff, or push Fred off, one.

"OOohhh." he bemoaned pitifully. "I'll tell 'em if you feel so strongly then! - " "Shut up!"

He laughed maniacally as their Hippogriff finally decided to descend. They hit the ground with a hard thump and quickly disembarked. Ariana shot a glare like daggers at Fred and he chortled at her in return. Fred tried to drag the Hippogriff into the lorry as Charlie readied the gate. Ariana reached into a nearby box and grabbed some meat to entice it.

"Nice flying there, girly." Charlie nodded approvingly.

"Thanks!" Ariana blushed violently and shot a glare at Fred for good measure, he snorted. Once they had secured both Hippogriffs, Charlie handed them broom sticks. They began preparing to leave when a thought occurred to Ariana. She glanced back at the Forbidden Forest, it was dark and glooming, strange noises were emanating from it. They would be flying separately on different brooms, what if they were to get lost? How could they find each other again in such a sinister place. Ariana turned to Fred clutching the Amiculus Amulet in her hands. "Fred..?" Ariana called tentatively and Fred glanced at her, "hmn? "

"These amulets…they're Amiculus Amulets. They can help us find each other if we get separated."

Fred evaluated them curiously as Ariana continued, "….should I give one to Charlie?"

Fred did a double take and his jaw dropped, "REALLY Ariana!" he exclaimed incredulously.

Ariana snickered at his disbelief. "Fred! If you and I get separated and find each other, what good will it do? If we give one to Charlie and we keep the other he could find us if we get into any trouble. We just have to stay close together."

Fred didn't argue, he just nodded his head although he wanted to say something along the lines of he could protect her if needed, but that was a blatant lie and they both knew it. They relayed their plan to Charlie who nodded in agreement. "Good thinking, Ari!" he patted her on the head and donned on the necklace. Ariana put the matching one on while grinning and blushing, much to Fred's disliking. They mounted their brooms and headed off back towards the glade, Fred and Ariana staying attentively close to each other and to Charlie as the night had finally fallen and the sky was an inky black. Fred happily chatted with his older brother any chance he got.

From the air they could see Hogwarts, it looked as if it were a tiny figurine glowing in the distance. They reached the glade with no incidences and they each rode separate Hippogriffs to the lorry; it was getting late and the process took longer than expected. Both Ariana and Fred were exhausted and struggling to keep awake. Their heads were bobbing up and down as they traveled, they had to shake the sleep from their mind. They landed by the lorry and loaded their Hippogriffs then mounted their brooms for one last trip. By the time the group got back to the glade the air was fiercely cold and their ears and noses stung painfully. Once they landed Charlie pulled a bottle from his back pocket and passed it towards them.

"It's Fairy Froth. It'll ward off the cold for a little while." He grinned at them. They both had a sip. The drink was bitter but it warmed them up just like butterbeer, but the sensation lasted for much longer.

"You're not cold, Charlie?" asked Ariana sweetly.

"Nooo, Me? I've got tough skin! It's cause of those dragons, ya' know! Been burnt too many times, nothing bothers me." Charlie brandished a few scars on his arms.

"Dragons?!" Ariana cooed, "What are the dragons like, Charl-" "OOoohohoho! Chaaaaarr-lie! Please tell us about the ickle dwag-on-sies!" Fred interrupted. He swayed around the glade and crossed his fingers under his chin pleadingly, batting his eye lashes at Charlie as he leaned on Ariana's shoulder. "I've read so much about them but it would be _soo_ much more interesting if a dapper guy like yourself told me all about 'em. Pretty please?"

Ariana shrugged him of her shoulders sharpish and quickly turned back towards her Hippogriff. She clambered on top of it and lead it into the air. Crimson was seeping across her face and her eyes seemed rather glassier than usual. Fred watched her rush away in quiet disbelief.

"Smooth, Fred…" Charlie sighed and jumped on his Hippogriff, "You're a real contender."

"I don't know how she doesn't see that she's acting like that! Whut's she so mad about!?" Fred followed suit and they both hurried after her.

Twenty minutes later Ariana was still brimming with anger. She didn't speak to them as she loaded her last Hippogriff into the lorry.

"Is she still mad?!"

Charlie quietly whispered to his little brother, "They can go on like that for weeks!"

"Wut, did a dragon take a fancy to you over there in Romania, Charlie?"

Charlie laughed, eyes glowing as he reminisced over an unknown girl, "No…but she could breathe fire…"

Ariana waited along the edge of the Forbidden Forest as Fred loaded his Hippogriff.

Fred and Charlie had a moment to themselves and shared a few jokes.

"Percy still being a git, is he?"

"Yeah, always is.."

"Tell George and Ron I said 'ello and sorry I missed them."

"Sure, sure."

Then in a whisper to be sure they weren't overheard, Charlie asked, "Is that her? The one mum wrote about in her letter?"

"Wut..?" asked Fred, completely baffled as to what he meant.

"Ron wrote home and told mum. Said you were sweet on some girl. …..She wrote the _whole_ family, Fred..really excited..."

"SHE WUT!? NOOOO. No she didn't!" Fred whined pitifully, " Ron wouldn't!...would he? You're lying, Charlie!... You're only joking, right?" Fred went through various stages of grief; first denial, then anger, reasoning….

Fred's panicked voice rose high enough for anyone within a fifty mile radius to hear and if that didn't frighten anyone nearby Charlie's barking laughter must have. It resonated off the trees.

Charlie ended their chat with his approval and a quick hug.

Charlie then addressed them both, "Well, its about time I get going! I'll send you two an owl when I get back to Romania." He handed Ariana's amulet back to her and she handed it out to Fred, who snatched it up in an irritated way- as if he had deserved it a long time ago.

They moseyed over to their brooms. It was nearly curfew and they had to hurry back, however between a short night's sleep, difficult classes, being exhausted from Quidditch, and from the excitement of seeing Charlie, they were nearly dead on their feet. They waved a sleepy goodbye to Charlie and left. He shouted after them, "Take care!"

They nodded again and began their journey back to the castle. Despite being able to see the castle they found themselves wandering from it as a result of their weariness. They would call out over the eerily quiet night to bring each other back on track. It was quiet save for the sounds of leaves swaying below them. Ariana found her eyelids growing heavier and heavier. She had to remind herself of how close they were to the castle. Just a little more.

Almost there.

And then she would jolt up after nearly slipping off her broom.

Fred was in a very similar state. She noticed he was a short distance in front of her as they flew and he was swaying more and more.

A noise whirred past Ariana and a swift blast of air fluttered in its wake.

Dazed, Ariana began looking around her in confusion. The next thing she knew there was another whir but closer and the wind was harsher this time. The stream of air shifted her weight on the broom and caused her to spin. She quickly caught herself, straightened up her broom and looked around her. She spotted Fred, still traveling towards the castle and called out to him, "FREDD! GAHh-!" A sharp needle the length of her arm and width of her largest finger pierced her arm and hung there firmly. A scream bellowed in her gut but couldn't find its way out. She suddenly couldn't feel her face or her limbs and her voice no longer worked. Unfortunately, neither did her breathing. Her lungs burned for air and her eyes watered up in panic. She could no longer hold on to her broom and she slipped from it stiffly, paralyzed. She plummeted through the branches of the Dark Forest and ricochet painfully from tree to tree until she hit the ground with a terrible thump. She would have gasped for breath if she could but nothing escaped her mouth. A drop of water slipped from the corner of her eye as she lay on the moist ground of the Dark Forest, alone, unable to move or cry for help, pierced with a large spike and losing consciousness.

Ariana wasn't sure how long she had been unconscious, but she didn't think it was for very long. She ached all over and her face was mushed into the mud and rotten undergrowth and it clogged her nose and was in her mouth. She spit it out sluggishly as she regained control over herself. She listened closely for any sounds around her. She couldn't hear anything through the ringing in her ears. Her arm began to sting and spasm as she regained feeling. She groggily crawled to her feet and stood.

She had to get going.

Whatever had shot her down would be looking for her…She found it safe to assume whatever had shot her off her broom did not do so for a bit of small talk.

She was something's prey.

Her feet felt numb but she hurriedly wobbled away, her heart throbbing painfully and full of terror. She was gasping, still air hungry from lack of breathing. She left the spike in her arm for fear of blood loss. Hope shot through her heart as she spotted the end of her broom stick before her. She hurried too it, only to find it was shattered into a million pieces from their journey through the foliage.

Fear shot through her again like an icy ghost.

She could very easily die out here. In the Forbidden Forest. Alone. On foot.

The fear spurred her to run. She ran as fast as she could with numb feet and without a clear path through the shrubbery. Her right arm was the one that was pierced and was particularly numb. It was also her wand hand. Ariana grabbed her wand from the inner pocket of her cloak with her left hand. She brushed the Amiculus Amulet by accident and suddenly remembered it. She rubbed it quickly and it began to glow brightly. As optimistic as it made her feel it made her equally terrified. She tucked it under her robes in fear that horrible monsters would be attracted to its glow. Its brightness also made it harder for her to see in front of her. She opted not to use the Lumos charm in an attempt to stay hidden from whatever beast was after her.

Fred heard a what sounded like a very distant cry sound from behind him. By the time he drowsily turned around to look he didn't see anything. He turned back towards the castle and then it hit him; he didn't see _anything_. And Ariana was supposed to be right behind him...

He was suddenly bolted back to reality and began to panic. The Amiculus Amulet let off a bright glow.

"ARIANAAAAAAAAA!" he shouted and darted back the direction they'd come. He spotted a flash of flesh color in a clearing below him. Fred dived quickly downwards.

A great roaring sound made her blood chill in her veins.

It was the roar…of a lion…and not the Gryffindor sort.

It was not very far away.

Her mind raced through what it could be, what lived in the forest; Nemea lions? Chimeras? Cari Caturist Caughlings? She hoped it was the last; small harmless birds that mimicked horrifying noises, like screams and howls. She suddenly remembered Susie; Ariana was currently living Susie's worst nightmare; what the boggart had shown her.

A resonating swoosh of great wings sounded from above her. She didn't look. She ran with all the power she had as cold sweat dripped down her back. Her arm was spasming with excruciating pain, it was making her vision burry, but she couldn't afford to stop. Spikes sot out beside her feet and thudding into trees as she ran past. One more hit and she would be dead.

She tripped.

She fell to her face, inadvertently dodging a fatal stick of the beasts horrendous needles. She flipped on her back to face the monster just as it swooped into view.

It was the first time she had ever seen a manticore.

The beast's body was that of a massive lion. It's tail tapered off and ended in horrid needles. Ghastly wings that resembled bat wings, only a thousand times larger, looked as if they were sewn onto its back. The manticore used these wings to glide above the ground, but it couldn't hold the weight of its body height in the air. It only flew for moments, then it resorted to walking on its four taloned paws.

However, the worst part; the part that would later haunt Ariana's nightmares; was its face. It had two spiraling horns protruding from the sides of its head. The beast had a large bushy mane around its neck but its face, its face was distinctly human. It had human eyes and a human nose. It did not have a human mouth. It was the mouth of a monster. There were three rows of knife-like teeth. The manticore drew back its lips and bared them all at her as it gave a horrifying howl. It sored towards her, teeth gashing and all of the fear she could possibly feel seeped into her heart.

She was about to die.

The fear burst from her heart and she threw out her arm out before her as all the energy burst form her body.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGG!" she screamed, terrified, and she closed her eyes as fire burst from her hands. The manticore, nearly on top of her, doubled back, away from the fire. The fire flew outwards, caved in and then what burst from it took the shape of a dragon. It stretched it's great fiery wings and dived for the manticore. Once it hit the ground the fire dissolved into shapelessness again then a great serpent coiled out of the flames after the dragon.

She knew what spell this was. This was dark magic.

She jumped to her feet and ran, she couldn't control this spell. It was too powerful, it would destroy her.

Her limps were no longer numb, her arm ached bitterly, but she rose and ran as fast as her feet would allow her as the sounds of painful howling echoed behind her. She fled through the thicket wand still ready in her hand, breathing heavily until she spotted a flash of crimson beside her. Fred Weasley; and this time it wasn't just his hair that was red, it was his face.

Fred stood waist deep in a foul, murky black pond, broomstick at his side. Five nude women were flanked all around him, running their hands through his hair, touching his cheek. Ariana recognized them instantly, they were naiads. Being a fifteen year old boy, Fred's mental capacity was quickly and surely failing him. If they weren't about to die a fiery death Ariana would have laughed hysterically at him as he stood there gapping. The naiads most definitely meant to disorient and drowned him in the water; and then eat him. If they survived she vowed to mock him for this forever…

_"INCENDIO!" _Ariana shouted and a small sample of fire burst out in one of the naiads air. Ariana gasped and clutched at the burning wound in her arm. Surprised, they all began screaming and backing away. Fred, still in a daze, stood there stupidly. Ariana grabbed him by the cloak and dragged him from the water forcefully. "wut? What?what?" he began to sputter, tripping over his feet as she dragged him along. The manticore was done for, the fire, the Fiendfyre, was headed this way. She could see it ten meters away and approaching quickly. Fred spotted it too and they ran. The canopy of the forest was too thick to fly through, falling through it was one thing, but raising from it was something else entirely. They had to find a clearing where they could take off from.

Their feet thundered under them as they fled for their lives. Fred was a very accomplished runner; Ariana liked to imagine it was because of his times running from Filch. They were somewhere deep in the forest now and they couldn't tell which way was towards the castle, or even Charlie. Ariana had a fleeing wish that Charlie would suddenly come to save them, riding on the back of a Romanian Longhornded Dragon; but then she supposed more fire wouldn't help their predicament. Ariana's arm began to ache more and more, until it was becoming unbearable. She couldn't recall if a manticore's spikes were poisonous or not. The aching and burning was spreading through her arm and she clutched it to her. They ran for what felt like hours until they came to a ridge. The jump was only 2 meters but they faltered, looked at the uneven ground below then grabbed hands and jumped. The ground was very mushy yet not wet. It confused them for a moment then the ground began to quake under them. They quickly jumped off and ran desperately.

"GUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAHhHHhh!" a particularly colossal mountain troll roared as it woke and rose from its slumber under the ridge. Dark although it may seem, Ariana was elated. The Fiendfyre would find its next victim and it wasn't going to be them. Slow and stupid, the troll looked around for whatever had disturbed it but they were long gone. It scratched it's head as it spotted the fire looming over the ridge. It raised its great club to challenge the oncoming flames.

Fred and Ariana ran through the trees and finally reached a dell, vacant of trees. Fred hopped on his broom agilely and she clung on behind him. They both pushed off the ground forcefully and rose straight into the air, albeit slowly with their combined weight on the broom. Ariana looked behind them as soon as they could see over the canopy.

The Dark Forest was on fire. A great black streak ran through the forest, the sides of which were still burning and lashing outwards. She could see fiery shapes form and then fade away. They flew higher than before to avoid any more mishaps, and quickly turned back towards school. They were not very far so long, but the distanced seemed great to them at the time. They arrived five minutes later and flew straight up to the front doors of the castle. They ran in, Fred through his broom uncouthly and Ariana ran towards the Grand Staircase. "What are you still running for?!" Fred asked.

"We have to go tell Dumbledore before the whole forest burns down!" and she fled up the stairs two at a time. Fred followed after her. They climbed the stairs for what seemed like forever until they got to the seventh floor. They raced down the corridor and as soon as they entered the hallway with the gargoyle Ariana began shouting, "LEMON DROPS! LEMONDROPS!" and the gargoyle began to move away. Ariana was filled with a sickly sweat and felt as if she were going to faint or throw up, or both at the same time. It was baffling that the one time they needed a teacher or Filch, they had made it running through the entire castle without seeing a single soul. They ran up the stairs, Fred staring wildly as it was the first time he had been to the headmasters office, thankfully he didn't get into _that_ much trouble. Once they reached the top of the stairs Ariana began screaming again, "PROFESSOR, PROFESSOR -" "Yes, yes I know." Dumbledore said hastily as he rushed past her, dressed in his night gown and cap.

"But how-?" Fred asked, amazed and Dumbledore nodded his head towards a window along the wall and grimaced. A glance explained it all for them. The room was filled with the flickering light of a great fire, and it wasn't beneath the mantelpiece. The Forbidden Forest was being charred to the ground. Fred and Ariana exchanged looks of horror. Dumbledore quickly glanced at Ariana and then Fred, "Take her to Madam Pomfrey at once!" he directed, "And go wake Professor Snape." then Dumbledore fled his office. Fred did just that. They walked back down to the hospital wing Ariana was quickly loosing strength, her legs were giving out below her. He was also near exhaustion but his adrenaline kept him going. When they arrived Madam Pomfrey chastised them for waking her then with one glance she silenced, then said, "Oh dear!" and hurried them in.

She sat Ariana down as she began to struggle for air, yet again. She was gasping and clutching at her throat as moisture rose to her eyes. "GO GET PROFESSOR SNAPE QUICKLY. Tell him to bring his best antidotes or a Bezoar then come back here!" Fred nodded and with one last worried glance at Ariana he ran for Snape. Meanwhile, Madam Pomfrey quickly poured a few bottles down Ariana's mouth to ease her agony and administered a few numbing spells as a very powerful poison burned through Ariana's veins. Fred ran down to the dungeons, grateful he knew exactly where Snape's chambers were thanks to the Marauder's map. He wasted no time in getting there and used the hidden shortcut from the fifth floor straight to the third. He banged on Snape's door violently, getting a small bit of satisfaction from disturbing him late in the night. "PROFESSOR! PROFESSOR SNAPE! SHE'S POISONED! SHE-NEEDS-UH-BEZOAR!" he wrapped on the door violently. It swung open and Snape evaluated him, he was scratched, sullied and exhausted. "Madam-Pomfrey." Fred gasped, now out of breath, "Hospital-wing"

Snape spun around and quickly grabbed his needed ingredients. They ran back up to the hospital wing and Snape flung open the door and raced in. Fred was shocked at what he saw. Ariana's skin had gone a sick shade of purple and grey. She was convulsing and thrashing on the hospital bed violently. Her eyes were glazed over with a blue tint and her skin was damp with a frenzied sweat and tears were streaming down her face. She was gasping and what Fred assumed were once screams were now strangled gurgles that died in her throat. Snape hurried over and began administering his antidotes. Madam Pomfrey was hurriedly tending to the spike that was still protruding from Ariana's arm. The sight of it all made the blood drain from Fred's face, he had to hold on to a nearby bed to stop himself from falling over.

"A manticore?" Snape whispered disbelievingly. He turned to Fred, "How long was this manticore spike in her arm?" "I dunno..." Fred answered weakly. "Thirty minutes?" he questioned and Fred shrugged, "around there. " Fred was taken aback as Snape cursed. Snape and Madam Pomfrey exchanged worried glances and Fred's stomach plummeted to the ground with worry. He watched, petrified, as they worked fiercely on healing her for nearly two hours. Her spasms and contortions began to slow and gradually she became unconscious and unresponsive. Dumbledore returned sometime around then, still in his nightgown and looking particularly exhausted. Dumbledore walked into the hospital wing and went briskly towards Ariana. He looked her up and down grimly then shot a glance at Snape, "Will she survive…Severus?"

Snape tsked and said, "It is too soon to be sure…" Fred; still listening, gasped loudly. He didn't realize it was that serious. She was walking and talking only minutes ago yet now they weren't sure she was going to survive...he felt strangely guilty for some reason and he didn't understand why. Fred Weasley was not used to feeling guilty for anything.

The noise he had made drew attention towards him as Snape and Dumbledore shot him a glance. Dumbledore spoke first, "It seems Mr. Weasley here requires a bit of mending too, Madam Pomfrey." Madam Pomfrey nodded and raised her wand to him to begin a few healing spells on his scratches, all tiny compared to the gauge in Ariana's arm, all of his injuries were from the lithe, whip-like branches in the Dark Forest. He was completely healed in no time at all. "It's best you hurry back to your dormitory Mr. Weasley. Get some rest. Ariana will remain here for the night and you can visit her after your classes tomorrow." Dumbledore instructed and Fred nodded and left. He went back to the Gryffindor dormitory, George was still awake, worried sick about him; and angry as if Fred had gone through all of this on purpose. He swore, sometimes George acted _just_ like their mum….

They retired, George fell asleep instantly but Fred lay turning restlessly in his bed, replaying everything over and over in his mind. Some hours later George shook him awake and told him to get ready for classes. Groggily, he got ready and headed towards the Great Hall. He ate quickly and made plans to visit the hospital wing before Potions class. Ron arrived shortly after Fred and George. "What? Stay up all night snoggin' your new girlfriend, Fred?" he asked snidely. "Did you spend all night coming up with that, Ron? _Great job,_ mate. _Really_ well done." Fred said sarcastically and George chuckled. Fred was in and irritable mood, most likely from lack of sleep. "B'sides, I saw Charlie last night." Ron's face lit up at the mention of his brother, "You know what he said, Ron?" interjected George. "He said you've been yakkin' your mouth to mum. What have you been prattling on about to her?" Fred said angrily. Ron's eyes widened and his ears went a shade of scarlet, sure signs of guilt. "If your lips get any more loose I'll bust them for you, you hear?" Fred threatened and Ron ran away to find another seat.

"Bit harsh, isn't it?" asked George.

"NO."

Fred grumpily finished his sausage.

He went up to the hospital wing, George in tow, despite Dumbledore having specifically said _after_ class. Fred was fond of thinking specifics were quite ambiguous. They slowly opened the door to the hospital wing and spotting no Madam Pomfrey they entered freely. Ariana was still lying in the same bed exactly as she had when he'd left her. She still looked very ill, her skin was still an odd shade of blue. She lay there motionless except for her shallow and uneven breathing. George was shocked by her state. Seeing as there was nothing they could do, they returned to their duties as students and went to the dungeons for Potions, although remarkably late; losing a few house points for Gyrffindor. But what did that matter, really?

Ariana woke as a door closed softly. She ached everywhere and felt particularly parched. She leaned up in her bed and sipped on the water beside her bed, silently wishing it was some of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey. It did, however have very brightening effects for her. She drank more as she began to run over last night's events in her head. Hippogriffs, manticores, Mountain Trolls, FiendFyre, Naiads, was she forgetting anything? Oh! Single handedly burning the Dark Forest down, right, let's not forget _that._ Her mind then wondered to detention, and learning to play Quidditch for Susie's upcoming friendly game with Slytherin. When was that? Wednesday morning right? And today was…?

She untangled her feet from the bed linen and stood up. Her head swam but she briskly shook her body into submission and it sent waves of nausea through her in return. She looked around and couldn't find any of her clothing save for her shoes. She donned them on and peaking for any signs of Madam Pomfrey, she quietly snuck out of the hospital wing still wearing her hospital wing gown. All of the students and teachers were preoccupied with classes, as this was primetime class time. Besides that, the hospital wing was a conveniently close to Ravenclaw Tower, perhaps the founding fathers knew she would be coming to Hogwarts..

She was strangely glad to see the door to Ravenclaw tower, nearly twelve hours ago she thought she was dying. "If I eat I grow stronger. If I drink, I die. What am I?" asked the knocker. Ariana pondered for a while then answered, "A fire." then she grimaced, there was a bit too much fire in her life at the moment...

"Good thinking, little dove!" and the door swung open for her.

Ariana hurried inside and up to the dormitory to look for Susie. Some of the other fifth year girls were there, but no Susie to be found. When asked they said she had gone to the Quidditch field. Ariana dressed in outdoor gear and quickly headed outside to the Quidditch pitch. She had already exhausted any life she had regained overnight by the time she arrived. She wondered whether this was amiable or not, but decided she wanted to do whatever she could to make Susie happy. Susie and Cassius were already on their brooms when she entered the field. Susie flew over quickly and hopped from her broom.

"ARIANA! Where have you been!" she greeted her with concern vivid on her face. Ariana flashed her friend a bright smile, despite the wave of nausea that ran through her. "Detention..and the hospital wing." Susie gasped and Ariana gave her a brief recap of her adventures in the Forbidden Forest, again going over the Hippogriffs, manticore - Susie said they were her _worst_ fear, then traipsing on sleeping trolls and setting Naiads hair on fire. Ariana left out the part about the FiendFyre. She didn't know what to think about that, it was dark magic after all.

"You look HORRIBLE. Maybe you shouldn't play…." Susie said softly.

"Snape cured the poison, I'm just a little rough around the edges, that's all." Ariana reassured her.

Susie smiled brightly. Cassius strutted over and Ariana remembered seeing him in the closet with 'Lia Everest' and dislike for him coursed through her veins. She tried to conceal it for Susie's sake. "Ready?" he said. "Sure."

Ariana spotted a dob of bleach blond hair halfway down the field. He was wearing fancy black clothes and was too cool to wear his cloak despite the frigid air. He was chatting with his two cronies who stood beside him like oversized puppies. Of course she would end up playing Malfoy. The only thing worse would have been Flint. There were two brooms next to him so she had to approach him. Susie and Cassius returned to their frolicking and chasing each other on broomsticks.

"Hey." she said, considering she probably had to say _something_.

"What took you so long?" he asked as if it was his business.

" Hospital wing."

"Oh yea? Heard you have detention with one of those filthy Weasley's- " Ariana stiffened, "you got something going on with them?"

"Sure. The twins are my friends."

"You sure it's nothing more than that, eh? Spending all those nights together, it could get romantic. " he jeered nastily.

"I heard you had detention with Potter your first year, anything romantic happen there?" he winced and they laughed it off.

"Are you pure blood?"

"Yeah."

"Good. We'll you shouldn't spend time with those blood traitors. Bad news…well, c'mon. Let's start the game." he handed her a broomstick and bounded off on his. She followed him into the air, the cold breeze did wonders for her stomach and aching head, although there was no helping the soreness in her limbs and shoulder, in particular. They met up with Cassius and Susie midair.

"So, I'm going to assume you two want to be on the same team?" Draco said rather snidely. Susie and Cassius exchanged glances and nodded their heads.

"Then you two versus us, " Draco nodded towards Ariana.

They agreed on playing till five points and appointing one Beater and one Chaser. They diverged to confer privately.

"Are you a better Chaser or Beater? " Draco asked. "Neither…how about -" "Then I'll play Chaser so we score more goals and win." Ariana let out a large sigh. Being a Beater with a hole in her arm? Wow….

Draco was already trying to pry the Quaffle from Cassius' hands by the time Ariana turned to go get a Beater's bat from the supplies trunk. She picked it up and held it in her left hand, hoping she was strong enough to keep the Bludger off of her and Susie until overly eager Malfoy could make five goals. And yes, Ariana's goal was to keep the Bludger off her and Susie, she would rather enjoy it if it clocked Draco or Cassius upside the head….what had Fred taught her? The "Bruise and Lose"?

Draco came down and excitedly released the Bludger from its bindings. Ariana wanted to cry, maybe a manticore didn't have the honor of killing her but now a Bludger would. She mounted her broom again, feeling weak suddenly and raised her Beaters bat and followed the Bludger. It shot through the sky after Draco. Ariana halfheartedly flew after it, the other half of her heart was hoping it would catch him. Draco shot towards the goal post, Susie and Cassius shot after him but an attack from the Bludger sent them scattering. Draco threw the Quaffle and scored.

1-0

Susie dove for the Quaffle and caught it then sped off for the opposite goal post with Draco hot on her tail. He bumped her a little harder than was necessary considering this was a friendly game. Susie went spiraling away and the Quaffle fell into Draco's outstretched hands. He quickly turned and darted for the goal. Cassius hit a well-aimed Bludger his way and it nearly hit him. The Bludger came directly towards Ariana so she swung her bat with her left hand as hard as she could and sent the Bludger spiraling to the ground. She had been aiming for Cassius, the opposite direction, but whatever…no one died.

2-0

Draco scored again. Ariana found herself mentally egging him on so that this could be over. She really felt ill and she had a suspicion that her arm was oozing blood again. Susie grabbed the Quaffle and shot to the other goals and scored.

2-1

Draco snatched it up and scored, dodging another Bludger from Cassius.

3-1

Ariana was praying she could just stay on her broom without falling off. Being a good Beater was very far down on the list of important things she was struggling with at the moment. Her head was swimming and she was going to be sick.

3-2

Cassius hit the Quaffle into the goal posts with the Beaters Bat. Was that a legal move?

Draco took it, Cassius shot the Bludger at him and Ariana hit it back with all of her strength. It nearly hit Cassius in the boot.

4-2

Nearly there. Susie flew across the field with the Quaffle. She made an attempt and missed, Draco caught it. Ariana watched with high hopes she would soon be off the broom and would have the freedom to lose yesterday's lunch with some privacy behind the stands instead of the middle for the Quidditch pitch. She was low to the ground eyes locked on Draco for a moment as he sped to the other goal post.

WACK!

The Bludger hit her full force. It struck directly into her injured right arm. "AAAAAAAGGGGGHH!" she fell from her broom and hit the ground with great force. Her eyes were clenched as tightly as they could possibly be and she rolled around clutching her arm. It was definitely bleeding now. She rolled on to her knees and rested her head on the grass as her breathe came in rattling shakes. Her head was throbbing.

5-2

If Draco said 'let's play another round' Ariana decided she'd use the Cruciatus Curse on him. Ariana scrapped herself, and her ego, off the field and wobbled over to the edge. She laid down her broom and sat ungracefully beside it, still clutching her destroyed arm.

"WOW! I saw that Bludger hit you! Are you alright!?" Susie stressed. "I might live…" Ariana joked, "But I'm going to go now…I don't think Quidditch is my game.." she feigned a laugh. Susie chuckled and went to collect the equipment. Cassius strolled near her and she called out to him, he waltzed over.

"Cassius. Be careful with Susie." Ariana wasn't good at making threats, but she did have a very harsh, cold voice and violent eyes which did all the talking for her. Cassius looked at her strangely for a moment but didn't respond as Susie trotted back towards them.

They said their goodbyes. Ariana limped back up to the castle, but lost her lunch- rather violently, in a bush along the way. Ariana had to limp up to the fourth floor then up even higher into the Ravenclaw tower because she had forgotten to take her books along with her. It seemed to take longer and hurt more than her journey through the Dark Forest the night before…

Once she arrived she grabbed her books and checked over her homework until class time. She stumbled back down to the first floor for Transfiguration. Susie was already in her seat, her _usual _seat when Ariana arrived. Ariana smiled at that and slowly but determinedly shuffled to her seat. The Weasley twins gave her a look of complete shock.

Fred shot from his seat. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing out of the hospital wing..?!" George nearly shouted.

"If you feel half as bad as you look…." Fred started but couldn't finish his sentence in his excitement, "Wowww. You're still blue!" he poked her sickly looking skin.

Fred felt her forehead, "She's burning up, Georgie." "Not half as bad as that forest out there…" George couldn't miss the opportunity to tease them and Fred and Ariana exchanged guilty glances. He laughed at his own joke just as Professor McGonagall burst into the room hurriedly and a little late, which was very unlike her. They all quickly found their seats and she started class, "Ravenclaws, if you see Ms. Flamel please tell her-" Professor McGonagall glanced around the room at the blue clad students and stopped as she laid eyes on Ariana Flamel. "I _don't_ believe it!" she said exasperatedly. "The whole school has been looking for you! Whereas I do admire your dedication to your learning, if you don't return to the hospital wing I'm afraid Madam Pomfrey will turn you into one of the Hogwarts ghosts!" She paused as a thought came to her, "Ariana, the All-the-way Headless Adolescent." The class laughed heartily, Fred and George particularly, and Professor McGonagall pursed her lips to hide the proudness she felt for her joke. "I will have someone take notes for you. Now go! Go!"

Ariana looked around to her friends for any help but their faces told her they all agreed with Professor McGonagall. Ariana grabbed her stuff, rather angry at being forced to leave. Transfiguration was her hardest class. She really couldn't afford to miss class. Ariana packed up her bags and headed back to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey was furious. She did worse than try to make her a Hogwarts ghost.

"FIFTY POINTS FROM RAVENCLAW! HOW _**DARE**_ YOU! I'm surprised you didn't _die_! There is still POISON in your BODY! And you hurt your arm _again_!? OH this is going to need more mending. What AM I going to do with you?!" Ariana was reminded of Fred and George's mother and the howler she sent. Ariana's heart swelled and she felt strangely delighted that Madam Pomfrey was so worried about her. Ariana quietly consented to all of Madam Pomfrey's instructions, that is until..

"You will stay here for three nights, at _least. _And you can serve your detention after you've recovered."

"But, Madam! What about…what about Care of Magical Creatures class….can't I go to that?" "NO!"

"But-" "NO!"

Then another complaint, "Will Fred's detention be suspended too?"

"Why would it be? You're not supposed to be enjoying yourself, you know. But that's not my concern. Ask Professor McGonagall."

Ariana smiled with a new found respect for Madam Pomfrey. Once she had submitted to all of her rules, Madam Pomfrey brought her sweets to quell her. Ariana was grinning from ear to ear. It was like star treatment.

Once she was left alone for a few seconds Ariana fell into a deep sleep. She slept through Herbology, when Susie Fred, George, Alicia, Angelina and Lee all visited her bearing gifts; Susie brought her notes and homework, which none of the Gryffindors could believe but it was what she wanted the most. The other brought some cards, a few gag gifts, like a paper airplane that would keep flying until it was burnt to ashes so she could annoy Madam Pomfrey, and a large amount of sweets which she was very excited about. Ariana slept through Care of Magical Creatures, Dinner and Astronomy; the one class she was happy to miss. Ariana woke in the early hours of the night to find all of her presents. She was baffled by them and at first thought they were someone else's and began moving them away. It wasn't until curiosity got the better of her, which didn't take long, and she thumbed through the pile to see some of the things were specifically addressed to her.

Ariana sorted through them gaily. She had never received so many gifts in her life. Even Erma had stopped by at some point to drop of a card. A gasp reached her mouth as drew a letter from her pile that was addressed to her in a script she didn't recognize. What caught her eye was the large, ornate stamp that read '_Romanian Customs_' and then PASS in bold letters. She eagerly ripped it open.

_Dear Ariana,_

_I am back in Romania. The hippogriffs are really loving it _

_here. It was a nice journey - very scenic. I haven't been back_

_to Hogwarts since I graduated what seems like many years _

_ago….anyway, take care of Gred and Feorge. They need it!_

_Take care,_

_Charlie. _

_P.S. If they bother you don't be afraid to send an owl to mum, _

_she'll set them straight!_

Ariana gushed. She replaced the letter neatly into its envelope and set it nicely on her table. She finished sorting her gifts into categories and they would later be displayed proudly on her bureau in the dormitory. She studied the notes Susie took for her and finished her homework before falling into another bout of deep sleep. She woke in the morning with a check-up from Madam Pomfrey. Her skin began to recover its natural color throughout the day. Susie brought her breakfast from the Great Hall and spent most of the day with her, catching up on what they had missed during their spat.

"…I'm sorry….I'm sorry I was rude to you before. About Cassius. I know you're probably right, and I don't want to believe it, but I'm really enjoying myself right now. I'll keep reminding myself that….that he may not be really truthful..but for now…." she couldn't finish. Ariana nodded happily; so long as they were friends, they could deal with stupid boys…

Things reverted to their old comfort. They spent hours together working on homework. Fred and George visited again, but only for a moment on their way back from Quidditch. They were covered in head to toe with mud and tracked it all through the hospital wing. Ariana swore she heard Madam Pomfrey curse at them when she saw.

"How are these chocolates? Do you like them?" George asked as he held up one of the chocolate ones they'd created. "I love those!" Ariana enthused. Fred and George warned her which ones would have ill effects. They even took away a few that they realized weren't quite appropriate.

"WHY'D YOU GIVE HER ONE OF THOSE, GEORGE? A Barfing Bonbon isn't something she really needs right now!"

"Well I didn't do it! That was your fault! You brought these!"

"No it's not, I gave all mine to Ron and told him they're the regular kind. "

"Well, maybe he figured it out and snuck the rest back to you…"

"I think we would have heard him if he'd figured it out.."

Ariana apologized for not being able to attend detention with Fred.

"Nonsense!" he shouted.

"Plus, he'll probably get detention again by that time…" added George.

Even Susie laughed at their bickering. Madam Pomfrey escorted them out after a while and soon after that she made Susie leave too. "She's got to get some rest now! Goodbye!" she said.

* * *

**Next Chapter: The Ministry of Magic **


	8. Chapter 8 - The Ministry of Magic

**Chapter 8 - The Ministry of Magic**

The next day Susie visited around lunchtime. Ariana felt nearly healed so she begged and pleated to be released but Madam Pomfrey wouldn't relent. The day came and went. Ariana was doing her homework when she noticed script forming on one of her discarded pieces of parchment.

_Lamb Shanks? __**Lamb Shanks?**_

She quickly grabbed the piece of parchment and grabbed her special quill.

_Yes?_

_If you had to write a four roll essay for the History of Magic, what would you write it on?_

She responded, _Hmn…You're friends with Harry Potter, right? Write about the after effects of the First Wizarding War on our generation._

_It's not history if it's happening now, is it? _Fred asked.

_Everything's history. Or at least history teachers say so. _Ariana replied.

Fred seemed to disappear for a while. When he came back he wrote to her slowly and with sudden stops. Ariana imagined he was in the common room with the other Gryffindors and was shouting or entertaining them.

_Potter, Granger, and pimple-face want to know if you are related to _

_Nik__Nick__NIC_

_ . .UP. _

_N-I-C-O-L-O-U-S Flamel_

Those three were very shrewd. Ariana was impressed.

She wrote back, _No relation. Sorry!_

There was another long pause as they most likely debated.

Ariana waited for a rely but soon went back to her studies; she had her own paper to write for History of Magic. A long while later a different but equally messy hand writing filled the paper.

_I really don't know how I can tell you this…I'm too shy to say it in person. But I really like you…I think I love-_

There were violent scribbles and ink blots at the end and Ariana guessed what had happened. She was proved correct soon after.

Someone scratched out the last line and then Fred's handwriting wrote back,_ That was Ron. _And then Fred wrote, _What. . _

Ariana laughed heartily.

A soft knock on the door brought Ariana's attention away from her parchment. Albus Dumbledore stuck his head in and gave her a soft smile. He walked into the hospital wing and looked her up and down.

"I see you have recovered some. Good."

Ariana began to panic as a thought passed through her. "Professor….am I…am I in trouble?"

"Hmn…Well you did cause quite a problem for many of our teachers. You produced a very powerful spell - and a very dark spell. It was produced with all of the fear and anger you felt. Those are very powerful emotions, even more powerful than happiness and love but they are nearly impossible to control. Even I struggled to put out the FiendFyre. By the time I arrived it was spreading faster than I, as only one wizard, could put out. It has spread so far across the Dark Forest that I had to call Professor Lupin and Professor Flitwick to help me extinguish it. I also heard Professor Snape had to use some very valuable potions to keep you alive…" Professor Dumbledore idly toyed with is beard. "May I?" he gestured to the seat beside Ariana's bed and she nodded. He surveyed her gifts with a twinkle of joy in his eyes, then he spotted the piece of parchment sitting before her. Ariana felt it would be rude to snatch it away. Madam Pomfrey poked her head into the ward at the sound of conversation. She spotted Dumbledore and gave him a curt nod.

"Ah…ever sharp, those three…" Dumbledore motioned to the parchment, "At any rate, as for the reason I have come here; I came to inform you that the Ministry of Magic has decided to hold a meeting."

"Are they going to take my gloves off!?" Ariana nearly sprung from her bed, but a sadness in Dumbledore's face curbed her enthusiasm.

"I am afraid that is not what this meeting is for…They are concerned about the power you have displayed, and the effectiveness of those gloves…"

Ariana stared down angrily at her gloved hands, as if this was all their fault. Madam Pomfrey tutted sympathetically and excused herself.

"Are you well enough to attend this meeting?" Dumbledore asked softly.

"Sure." a dark look had overtaken her face and she clenched her fists so strongly it hurt. Ariana was determined to learn as much about everything as she could in life, and to do that one has to keep a clear and open mind. Do not assume anything. Accept everyone - they could teach you something very important. Rejecting someone could also be burning bridges you haven't crossed yet. She always kept this in mind, but she could not control the overwhelming _**hate**_ she had for the Ministry of Magic. The way she had to live her life was not the gloves fault, this was not Dumbledore's fault, this was not her father's fault.

_This was the Ministry of Magic's fault._

Dumbledore saw the darkness swelling in her and he frowned in worry. He spotted something on her bed and said, "Ah! I believe you have a message!" and he directed her attention towards the parchment. Fred had written her again_. _

_Ariana, are you still awake? Who was it that allowed Aurors to use the Unforgivable curses during the First Wizarding War? _

He had been waiting for her answer for some time and was now doodling little caricatures across the paper. He had drawn horrible little stick figure versions of himself and his brother on brooms with Beater's bats raised. There was a Quidditch goalpost and Olivier Wood was guarding them and has a speech bubble forming from his mouth that read, ' This is it. The big one…the one we've all been waiting for..' He also drew a girl with a badge that bore a large 'R' for Ravenclaw she assumed, who had hearts for eyes and a speech bubble that read 'OH, CASSIUS, WHERE FORE OUT THOU CASSIUS!" Fred was already hard at working on yet another masterpiece. He had already drawn two legs that where flailing in the air and he was working on drawing a skirt that was flared to show the undergarments beneath, however his artistic talents were quite lacking. Ariana quickly grabbed her quill and scribbled over his scene of their first Transfiguration class, and hopefully before Dumbledore could decipher what these scribbles depicted. Fred began attempting to redraw his masterpiece at different points on the parchment and Ariana headed him off by scratching them out. Then she wrote _BARTY CROUCH SR! _In the hopes that answering his question would satisfy him. _Thanks _he wrote back._ Did you fall asleep? _

Dumbledore watched Ariana as her eyes flickered across the parchment. The hate that was bubbling up inside of her quickly ceded and melted away then a smile crossed her face. Dumbledore chuckled at them then continued, "You must keep a clean, clear and _collected_ mind, Ariana. Do_** not**_ become angry with them. Think before speaking, especially if things begin to go awry. Now take a deep breath." She did and he motioned her to follow him. He led her over to the hospital wings fireplace and pulled a small velvet sac from his robes and opened it. It contained Floo powder and he poured some into her hand. "Say 'Foxgrove Inn'." She did as she was told and threw the powder into the fire, stepped in and said "FOXGROVE INN" as loudly and clearly as she could. The room swirled around her and she felt terribly squished. A few moments later she was in an unfamiliar fireplace. It was definitely an inn, it may have even been a muggle inn.

Ariana stepped out of the fireplace and approached the three witches and wizards before her. Her hands began to sweat and she fiddled with them, avoiding eye contact.

What if they said she couldn't stay at Hogwarts? Ariana didn't want to leave. Not now. Her throat began to tighten painfully.

"Hello Ariana." a kind witch said. Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Two Aurors stood behind her. She wore a women's pantsuit in an odd shade of purple. "Hello, ma'am." Ariana said softly, her voice rang out softly and sweetly. She looked at the others congregated in the room, "Hello Minister, Hello Mrs. Hopkirk, Mr. Crouch." - yes the man himself. She would have to tell Fred. The room mumbled tired greetings in return. A pop sounded and Dumbledore clambered from the fireplace, followed by Professor Lupin and then, moments later by Professor Flitwick, much to Ariana's surprise. Ariana curtsied as they entered and the Professors nodded in return.

"Ah, we are all here then." said Dumbledore then Fudge interjected quickly, as if he couldn't bear for Dumbledore to begin the meeting. "Yes, yes! Let's all take a seat. Here you are, girl" he took Ariana by the arm and sat her in a very comfy arm chair. She looked down and realized maybe she should have changed out of her hospital gown.

"Now, Ms. Flamel. I am sure you know what this is all about?" Fudge asked and she nodded. "Yes, well, It has come to our attention that you have used some very dark magic. Yes, very dark indeed." he turned towards the rest of the assembly and continued, "Our meeting is to decide what is the best and safest course of action to take in the case of this young girl. Mrs. Bones?" he looked at Amelia Bones, Department of Law Enforcement.

"I don't see what there is to debate. Someone like her shouldn't be in a school with all of those other students. That's just asking for a disaster. What happens when something like this happens inside the castle?" Crouch impatiently interrupted. "She shouldn't be allowed in this school at all! She should have been left with the German Ministry of Magic!" Crouch shot a dark look at Dumbledore who didn't seem to notice but replied all the same, "As she was under the care of a dear friend of mine, I am her guardian and am responsible for her which brings her under the ever watchful gaze of our Ministry."

Ariana shot glances at Professor Flitwick and he gave her an encouraging look. He was very kind. She would really like Charms if she wasn't struggling with it so much. Ariana looked at Professor Lupin, who was studying the Aurors in the room so she turned her attention to them. They were very intimidating. Ariana wondered why they were necessary for a small meeting, and she supposed that was exactly what Professor Lupin was wondering too. Mrs. Hopkirk was staring at Ariana and she shifted her glance to her and gave a soft smile. Mrs. Hopkirk was from the Improper Use of Magic office. And Mr. Crouch from the International Magical Cooperation's office. Ariana wondered if he was here because of his law enforcement background or was she considered an international case? He was glaring at her markedly. His eyes were dark and glassy. Accusing, even. Ariana stared back until Professor Flitwick gave her a swift kick to the shin and she adverted her eyes.

Mrs. Bones stood and approached Ariana, "I know you must be very nervous about all of this. It's all very scary for you, isn't it? But please know we will try to do what's best for you, and the other students of Hogwarts. So please do you best to answer my questions as clearly as possible. Did you conjure a Fiendfyre spell two nights ago in the Dark Forest?"

"Yes, ma'am. "

"And what incantation did you say?"

"Nothing, ma'am."

"Nothing? And how did you wave your wand?"

" Like this, " and she shielded her face with her arms.

"I see, " she paused, "Did you see where the spell came from?"

"No, ma'am my eyes were closed."

She made a slightly disgruntled noise, "Were you with anyone?"

"There was another student but he was separated from me at the time. He didn't see either."

"Did he see the fire?"

"Yes."

The group exchanged murmurs and glances.

Fudge injected, again, "Well, this is horrible news. This boy must have his memory tampered with."

Ariana nearly shouted 'No!' but she held her tongue, just barely. Professor Lupin spotted her fretting and fidgeting, he clenched his jaw and balled his fists behind his back. She did not know Professor Lupin struggled with his own ailment that made him different, and made the magical community fear him.

Dumbledore spoke, "Out of all of us, Ms. Flamel knows the boy the best. Ariana, do you think Fred Weasley can be trusted to keep the secret that you cast a dark spell so powerful? If anyone finds out, there may be many very dangerous types that come searching for you. They would try to bend your skills to their purposes; be it those under the influence of Voledmort or those who are out for their own gain."

"I trust him. He never saw me cast the spell. And he most likely doesn't know of it." Mrs. Bones and the Professors were nodding their head in agreement however, Fudge and Crouch were unmoved. "And what does that matter? What does it matter if the boy knows the spell. All he has to do is describe it and any grown witch or wizard would know it!" fussed Crouch.

"but..if I may?" Ariana asked, "The fact that he doesn't recognize it as a dark or difficult spell would make it insignificant in his mind. I started a fire that burnt down a part of the Dark Forest. That in and of itself is not so noteworthy, even muggles can burn down forests. All I have to do is tell him people can't know I started the fire."

A few of the attendees nodded I agreement, Professor Flitwick beamed at his student.

"What remains to be said is what caused me to cast the spell…" Ariana pointed out. Dumbledore nodded gleefully in concurrence, he had to hide a smile.

"Yes? And what was that?" Fudge asked.

"A manticore. It shot me from my broom as I flew over the Dark Forest for detention. I was paralyzed and it was standing over me. Professor Dumbledore told me that a spell like that feeds off of my anger and fear. This occurred when I was at my most terrified state. I was truly in danger. Also, Professor Lupin, " Ariana gestured for emphasis, " taught me that curses and hexes are powerful but easiest to cast, easier than protective charms. At Hogwarts I am learning to control spells, and use shield charms and transfiguration. My teachers are teaching me to control my magic. Hogwarts is the best place I could be!"

"Hmnn…" Fudge murmured, "Hhmn. What do you think, Mrs. Bones. " Ariana looked at Mrs. Bones, and she received a kind smile from her.

"The Ministry of Magic does not punish witches for casting spells in an act of self-preservation, nor when it is without malicious intent. This is a very convincing argument, Ms. Flamel… "

"What does it matter? What does it matter what this girl thinks?!" shouted Crouch. "We should be more alarmed by this than anything we have seen of or heard so far. Do you see how lightly this girl takes this issue? She doesn't see or comprehend the danger the other students are in. And it is the Ministries sole duty to protect innocent witches and wizards from any force that could wrongfully harm them!"

He spit his words out so forcefully, spittle flew from his mouth as he spoke. His words stung like whips across her face but Ariana stared at him coldly and unmoving. She had heard talk like this before.

Professor Lupin was the first to talk after that.

"Precisely so, Mr. Crouch. Then who is to protect Ariana from her powers? Is she not an innocent witch? Was it her fault she was dealt these cards? Let me remind many of you that I too, grew up under strained circumstances. The staff at Hogwarts; then Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey and now Professor Snape, have eased my suffering . They_ taught_ me how to deal with my circumstances. And now I can function as a working cog of our society. Is that not the best solution we have for Ariana Flamel?"

Crouch scowled at Lupin, as if he wanted to say allowing him at Hogwarts was a mistake too.

"We are well aware of your 'circumstances' Lupin, however there is no potion to help Ariana. " said Fudge.

"But I have my gloves. " Ariana stated.

"And they allowed you to cast dark magic!" said Crouch

"Exactly. They aren't working. In fact, they are making my classes harder. They are hampering my education on charms and transfiguration. Those classes will help me learn to control it-but right now I'm not able to learn. "

"A very good counter Ms. Flamel, however we are not here to discuss your gloves. Those gloves will stay on until further notice. We are here to discuss what are the consequences of your actions in the Dark Forest. Now, if we may return to that discussion…?" said Fudge. Ariana looked at Dumbledore with a very distraught look on her face. Dumbledore chuckled and shook his head at the girl, mouthing the words, 'I warned you…'

Ariana wasn't chuckling. It wasn't funny. She could hardly function with these gloves on. She should at least be given some freedom. Eating, fixing her hair, classes, and bathing, all seemed needlessly complicated by her gloves. A fire erupted in her chest again. She **hated** them.

"Ah, Professor Flitwick…if you would?" Fudge asked.

Professor Flitwick gave Ariana a curt nod, then cast the spell, "_Muffliato_."

The room went silent suddenly although most of the occupants mouths were moving as everyone started in a hurry. The absence of sound left an echoing ring in her ears. Dumbledore seemed to call quiet to the room and then he spoke first. His argument was short but it seemed to resonate through the room in an acceptable way. After him Professor Lupin spoke very passionately on her behalf. Crouch rebutted rather violently. Flitwick came back stingingly witty. The conversations continued in this manor for quite some time before they seemed to reach a consensuses. All except Crouch who sat in his set rather dejectedly. Ariana was glad as his idea of the best solution would most likely involve her being dead, or so she thought gloomily.

The attendees began to nod their heads in unison and Ariana assumed their discussion was coming to an end. Professor Flitwick returned to her and waved his wand. The sounds in the room rushed back into her ears. Fudge called order to the room and then turned to Ariana once more, "We have decided that you are in need of more training in order to gain control over your powers. Professor Lupin and Professor Flitwick have agreed to council you in extracurricular lessons." They went on to decide that these lessons would take place Friday till Sunday after curfew. Practicing after curfew would lessen the chance of students walking in during on them and raising questions as to why Ariana received extra attention. The Ministry and Hogwarts staff agreed this was not an issue they wanted parents finding out about.

"Will I get to take the gloves off during these lessons?" Ariana asked excitedly with her eyes full of hope. Fudge sputtered and said, "Ah, that. No. Not as of yet." Ariana was deflated.

But…this ordeal could have gone much worse…Professor Lupin reminded her of that after they had returned to Hogwarts through the chimney and reappeared in the hospital wing.

"I want you to understand the seriousness of this all…." Lupin coached her, "Know that if something had gone wrong and you or Fred Weasley were in any way irrevocably hurt, we would not been given this opportunity to prove your integrity. One accident is all it takes, and the Chairmen, parents and members of the Ministry will do all they can to have you thrown out of Hogwarts. _One accident._ You must understand this and take it very seriously. This is what the rest of your life will be like, you will constantly be walking on egg shells. " He was stern but Ariana understood he had been through a similar life and so she took heed.

The staff said their goodnights and agreed that Ariana's training would begin tomorrow, then left. It was with heavy eyelids that Ariana returned to her now familiar hospital wing bed. She was about to snuff her bedside candle when she noticed more script on her parchment. Fred wrote, _Where did you go? You're not on the map anymore…_

And then in an unsure script her wrote below that

_Are you okay?_

He had also completed his drawing of her falling from her desk chair with her skirt flying up. Ariana laughed gaily and wrote him back.

_I'm here. Must have been a glitch. _

She curled up in her bed but couldn't sleep due to a strange nagging sensation. She finally picked the parchment and quill back up and scribbled on it again.

_Goodnight Fred._

* * *

_Authors note: This one seems so short compared to the others, but it has a lot of plot to make up for it! I hope you like it. Please review and let me know what you think or where you think the stories going! E_n_joy! :)_

_p.s. Sirius is coming soon!_

**Next Chapter: Bruise and Lose **


	9. Chapter 9 - Bruise and Lose

**Chapter 9 - Bruise and Lose**

Ariana slept deeply and only awoke when Madam Pomfrey, tired of waiting for her to get up, shook her awake and told her she was well enough to return to her dormitory. Ariana was slightly sad to leave as she had gotten quite comfortable there; and Madam Pomfrey regularly brought her treats and fruit juices. It was before breakfast so Ariana carried her things (with some difficulty) up the staircase to Ravenclaw Tower. When she got to the entrance to the common room the door presented its riddle;

"You see it once in a year, twice in a week, and never in a day. What is it?"

Ariana wracked her brain for the answer but it wouldn't come to her. She struggled to hold her things; her books and quills and candies were slipping from her bag, arms and cloak. She wracked her brain for the answer for nearly twenty minutes until the door to the common room swung open. A sixth year emerged and looked at her questioningly but said nothing as he headed down towards the Great Hall. Ariana ran in as the door swung closed, clutching her things as tightly as she could. She ran up to her room and laid them all out on her bed as she sorted through them again and placed them in their rightful place. Susie woke up soon after her arrival and they chit chatted jovially. Ariana told her the riddle she was unable to figure out and they both pondered it for some time before it was forgotten amid other topics. They shared a quick breakfast and hurried to the North Wing where Susie spent most of the day tutoring Ariana on the lessons she had missed. Ariana sat on an ornate oriental rug on the floor near the fire while Susie was perched on a comfy couch in front of her. Their books laid scattered about them and they concentrated diligently on their schoolwork for the majority of the day.

"Is that her?"

Whispers rose to Ariana's ears and she raised her eyes from a textbook to find a girl with bushy brown hair around two years younger than them and a pale, freckled girl with a very familiar bright red hair staring at her and Susie from across the room. Ariana recognized them from the Gryffindor table; one of Potters friends and the youngest Weasley. They quickly ducked behind a bookshelf when she looked up. Susie followed her line of sight over to them and looked at Ariana questioningly. Ariana shrugged her shoulders and they continued their work. They had completed two essays and a very strenuous question and answer piece for History of Magic by the time Ariana spotted them again. Both of the girls had found seats on the far right side of the North Hall. They worked intently on their schoolwork. The young Weasley girls name was Ginny. Memories of her late night bath in the Prefects bathroom with Fred and George came floating into her mind and she began to daydream. Fred and George told her that Ginny had a huge crush on Potter, and she had been caught tapping a photo of Harry to her pillow. Ariana was straining her memory for other mention of her when she suddenly realized she was staring and the girls had noticed. They stared back apprehensively as Ariana's mind came back to reality and she blushed furiously and waved stiffly at them; not knowing what else to do. The bushy haired girl and Ginny exchanged questioning glances and Ariana buried her blushing, socially-awkward face in her book. A few minutes later Angelina came bounding into the study hall, she looked around for a familiar face, and upon spotting Susie and Ariana she came to sit by them.

"Oi! What are you two doing up here?"

"We haven't found a study niche as cozy as this in Ravenclaw Tower.." Ariana said.

"I heard the Ravenclaw Common room was beautiful!" Angelina howled with a joking hint of jealously.

"It is!"

"But a bit drafty.." Susie added.

"Are either of you any good at Potions? I'm horrible and Snape assigned us really difficult homework…"

Ariana and Susie exchanged happy glances and blissfully obliged.

"We _have_ to do this more often! I'm always looking for help with my assignments. Alicia is no help and Fred and George never do theirs. -"

"See! What did I tell you Fred, any flock of girls is _bound_ to be talking about us!" George taunted haughtily.

Both Fred and George came clambering down from the Gryffindor common rooms leaning on one another for support. "Oh lookie this, George! It's a _study group. _"

"Why don't you do our homework while you're at it?"

"Fat chance!" Angelina barked at them while laughing at their antics. Susie looked questioningly at Ariana to see if they were joking or not.

"Oh, look! Ginny and Hermione are here too!" said Fred and he waved. "Why are there so many girls over here?" asked George incredulously.

"Probably because you two were in the common room…" Ariana said with a coy smile.

There was a moment's pause then everyone burst out laughing, especially Angelina. Tears sprung from her eyes and she held her side in pain as she howled with laughter. Even Susie laughed.

"Good one Lamb Shanks!" said Fred…or was it George? She looked the boy up and down, suddenly riddled with doubt. Fred called her Lamb Shanks, not George…but wasn't that George just now? George had never called her that.

The other twin nocked his brother on his arm and said, "Hey Fred, why'd you start calling her that anyways?" the first twin, nearest to Ariana looked at the other slightly irritated. Then he said, "Don'tcha remember? I told you…Georgie"

It was too awkward. Ariana realized what they were up to but kept silent.

"Anyway! How've you been Ari?" 'Fred' threw his arms over Ariana's shoulders the way Fred had from time to time. The real Fred threw a quick but remarkably harsh glance at his brother. Ariana shifted uncomfortably under the weight of George's arm. Ariana spotted a random toad hopping near a bookshelf and quickly excused herself to chase after it before the twins could start whatever mischief they were plotting. When she caught it she busied herself with examining it for a while. A common toad, probably someone's pet.

"Neville Longbottom will be looking for that."

Ariana looked around to see Ginny standing beside her. Her hair was arranged quite neatly around her shoulders and she had a headband on; she was very pretty. Ariana stood up carrying the frog, "Neville Longbottom?" she asked.

"Yes. He's always losing his toad! He's named him Trevor…"

"…Trevor..?" Ariana said contemplating, then she decided, "What a horrible name!"

They both laughed.

"So…you're a fifth year? You know Fred and George?"

"They're in a lot of my classes!" Ariana said, then, "A big pain, those two!"

Ginny and Ariana snickered. They caught the attention of Fred and George and they nudged each other and pointed at them.

"Ari!" Fred called in a sing-song voice, "Are you training to take over Hagrid's job?" Fred and George laughed.

"No. I was going to see if it would turn into a prince!" Ariana joked and Angelina, Ginny and Susie laughed along with her.

"Why? When I'm right here?" Fred said cockily with a grin. He got a few 'oohs' and 'ahs' from the group and Ariana flushed and left the frog where she found him.

"Oh Ari" sang George, "Ginny said you're _beautiful."_

"-Simply studding, she said!"

Ginny began blushing violently and Ariana said, "Is any information safe with you two?"

"NO!" they said simultaneously and exchange high fives.

"Hey, Fred and George, can you solve this riddle? 'You see it once in a year, twice in a week, and never in a day. What is it?' I can't figure it out…"

"Hmn…" Fred hummed. "Umnnn" "once in a year…" " . …?"

"Well its 'e' isn't it? It's the letter 'E', once in year, Y-E-A-R, twice in WEEK. " said Fred.

"That's it! Wow!" Ariana's face lit up with excitement and she exchanged a glace with Susie who nodded happily. Although it had not been her plan, after the twins solved the riddle Ariana and Susie couldn't solve, Susie's opinion of them began to change. That is until George spent nearly an hour pestering her for the Slytherin Quidditch team's training methods. She returned to scowling at them.

They all laughed together, Ginny joined them and they continued working on their school work. "But its **Saturday**! Why are we doing homework on a Saturday? There's always Sunday!" said George.

"Or Monday."

"Or never."

The twins laughed. Susie sat on the couch and Ginny sat next to her, staring at Susie's luscious black hair with a hint of envy in her eyes. Angelina and George shared-rather fought over an armchair saying 'I got it first!' , then neither forfeited and so they both sat in it with their long legs hanging off the sides. Ariana laid spread out on the floor; that was the only place she could spread out all of her books out around her. She wore her cloak over her shoulders despite being so close to the lit fireplace. She enjoyed feeling toasty after the biting chill of resent days. Fred sat beside her, poking the fire and rolling around now and then to complain about his homework- which he wasn't working on. Ariana ignored him but was greatly entertained by it. Once she has successfully caught up in her classes and after quite a bit of coercion, Ariana agreed to help Fred with his schoolwork. They worked together on his essay.

"There's nothing left to talk about! I've already said it all!" he whined.

"Why don't you start talking about the effects the First Wizarding War had on your family or any other average wizarding family in the world?"

"You hear that, George? She called us 'average'. "

"Psh! 'Average' ! We're more than _average. _We're outstanding!…or at least that's what mum says!"

"Yea, and haven't you heard? We have a _**Head Boy**_ in the family!" said Fred.

"Hasn't he told you?" then George hung his head sadly, "the shame!"

They all chortled at the twins. Ariana laid on her stomach, absentmindedly paddling her feet in the air behind her as she read over Fred's essay. Fred laid on his back beside her on top of her skewed cloak and stared up at her as she worked. Ariana absentmindedly tickled her face with the feather of the quill as she read, until she tickled her own nose and caused a sneeze. Fred laughed hysterically at her for nearly half an hour. She blushed and laughed with him. It was Angelina that first reminded them of dinner. She corralled them all into heading down to the Great Hall. Ariana went to spring up from the floor, however Fred laid on her cloak. It caught around her neck and choked her, sending her sprawling to the ground. They all roared with laughter.

After they had all settled down again Fred asked, "Ari, do you still have detention?" "Yes. You're done?" "Yeah. Filch made me polish the suits of armor in the hallway you ran down…" Ariana flushed with guilt and Fred laughed, "Still feeling guilty? Good!" and he bopped her on the nose and grinned at her. Ginny glanced back and forth between them then smiled gleefully.

Susie and Ariana said their goodbyes and headed for Ravenclaw Tower to put up their things. "I wonder what they'll have me doing for detention…no one's told me.." Ariana told Susie as they headed back down for dinner. They ate slowly and lightly as they talked about Cassius and the upcoming Quidditch season. Susie had been watching Cassius practice with his team for the last two practices. "We should probably be paying a lot more attention to the Ravenclaw team and stop fussing over the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams.." Ariana pointed out and they both laughed at the humor they found there.

During dinner service an owl fluttered over to Ariana and she detached a letter from its leg. It read_, '_Report to the kitchens at seven for detention.' Ariana spent some time trying to figure out which teacher's handwriting this was and she finally decided Professor Flitwick had sent it. There were great blotches on the bottom of the note, which was very unlike neat and perfectionist Professor Flitwick and Ariana took out her wand and said, "_Acclaro_" she had to repeat it once more for it to work but then the blotches cleared up and formed back into words. It read, 'Remain there afterwards.' Ariana glanced up at Professor Flitwick and she saw him nod and wink at her; proud of his student's wit. She tucked the note into her pocket and glanced at Susie who was very preoccupied in deciding if she wanted another slice of meringue pie and hadn't spotted the second message.

Once they were done Ariana followed Susie back to the common room until it was time for her detention. She walked down the stairs at ten till seven still glowing from a very merry day. She had never spend so much time surrounded by people she enjoyed being with; surrounded with _friends._ It was delightful and the joy left her practically skipping through the halls for a few days. She rounded the corner and descended into the kitchens. It was teaming with house-elves. One particularly dumpy looking house-elf approached her and with a squeaky voice said, "You are to help us clean the dishes, you are!" it nodded happily and Ariana couldn't help but smile at the strange creature. She followed it to a great basin stretching the length of the room that served as a sink. House-elves were piling around it already busy cleaning. It was the right height for the house-elves to stand and wash the dishes but it was much too short for Ariana so she had to squat down to clean. Ariana suddenly became resentful that she ate from four plates when only one was needed. She reminded herself to properly consider the effects of her actions…

Her detention flew by, it was simple work and she had her thoughts to occupy her. The house-elves were kind and did most of the work, sometimes even taking the plates from her hand and smiling as they cleaned it themselves. It was the simplest of detentions and Ariana wondered if they had already exhausted all of the extraneous work that had to be done around the castle during their week of detention. Ariana worked diligently; or as diligent as one can work when house-elves are persistently taking your dishes from you, until Professor Flitwick came to get her. They went to the empty Charms room for her lessons. It was very difficult and she became more and more frustrated as her charms increasingly failed. Professor Flitwick worked with her and reminded her to keep a cool head whenever she became angry. The lessons went on for nearly an hour and a half until she was dismissed. It was nearly eleven by the time she had crept into her bed. She had no problem falling asleep.

The next day went much the same; Ariana and Susie did school work until Susie ran off to watch the Slytherins Quidditch team practice. Ariana went over her charms in a vacant room on the third floor and ran into Ginny on her way to dinner. They chatted about their classes and the teachers and they walked together to dinner, parting ways as they went to sit at their own tables. Susie hurried in and took her seat next to Ariana. She filled her in on the latest about the Slytherin Quidditch team. "Malfoy asked about you…!" Susie told Ariana excitedly, but it was the worst news Ariana had heard since she had been at Hogwarts. It was comparable only to the dread she had felt when she was told her father had died….maybe not..but still she took the news quite horribly and pulled a face to show it. "I don't know what you don't like about him! He's pretty cute!" laughed Susie. "I would be okay with him if he never spoke…he makes me SO angry! He _really _bothers me." Susie laughed at her again. During dinner Ariana felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Professor Snape and he informed her, her detention would be served in the dungeons. Some thirty minutes later Ariana walked down a staircase and emerged in the dungeons. She spent her detention preparing newt eyes and holly leaves for restock of Professor Snape's stores as he paced around his office and worked from his desk the entire time. She worked in silence and soon found she was actually enjoying her work and had to be shooed from the Potions classroom when detention was over. She stood in front of the door waiting for any sign of Professor Flitwick and was about to head to her common room when someone finally arrived.

"Ah! There you are! So sorry I'm late!" Professor Lupin seemed lightly winded and a little more disheveled than usual. His skin was also a sickly shade. Snape's door stood ajar and he rushed to it at the sound of voices. "Ah! Hello, Severus!" Lupin greeted but his only response was a sharp scowl and a quick slam of the door. The putrid breeze whizzed past Ariana as the door shut behind her. Lupin grimaced but soon straightened up and said, "Best be going then…" and he led her away.

Ariana was dying to ask about what Professor Lupin called his 'circumstances' but she knew it was much too private and worked very hard to restrain herself. Professor Lupin led her back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. They ran through a few exercises and Professor Lupin threw advice at her now and then. "I really do see an improvement since we last used the Shield charm!" he enthused. Ariana didn't see it…

"Professor?"

"Yes..?"

"..Do you…Do you think they will let me take these gloves off if I practice hard enough?" she asked and she stared at her gloves resentfully.

Professor Lupin let out a large sigh and put a hand on her shoulder, "Look, Ariana. Don't get your hopes up. Just take things one day at a time and you'll become accustomed to it in no time…" it was very depressing advice and Ariana's hope plummeted and died a horrific death somewhere near her stomach. She grimaced and turned away.

Professor Lupin continued, "And even though it is hard, you cannot confide in your friends." Lupin clenched his teeth as he said the most hypocritical thing he had ever said in his life, as his friends were a blessing to him as he went through his struggle. However, his friends figured out his secret without his help, because they cared.. or were too stubborn, one of those reasons. If a friend cared that much then they were trustworthy enough for her to confide in, but she mustn't be the one to tell them. He didn't dare say this though. Ariana looked simply morose so he dismissed her early, "Go get some rest for classes tomorrow."

She left without a word, not even a goodbye, completely lost in her thoughts. She returned to her dormitory and into her bed for a restless night, tossing and turning like a fish out of water as she thought about living her life without ever confiding her secretes, even in a friend.

Monday's classes came and went in a blur of difficulty. Ariana spent the entire week in a state of gloom, especially when contrasted with her high spirits only days before. Fred, George, Lee and Angelina took to walking with Ariana from Transfiguration classes on Tuesday to the grounds for Care of Magical Creatures. Fred, noticing her gloominess threw his arm over her shoulder and jabbed her in the sides all the way to class.

"Wha's the matter with you? Forgot to turn in some homework? Couldn't solve one of the door knockers riddles?"

"Are you the living version of Peeves?"

Fred and George laughed heartily. "He's our idol!" they roared. Ariana couldn't help but smile, they never failed to make her smile. She looked up at him as they walked and suddenly stopped, "What's that!? What happened to you?"

She stared up at Fred and he laughed, "Gee, you don't even notice me do you.."

One of his eyes was completely blackened and she looked at George and saw his lip was bloodied and swollen. They chuckled at her incredulous look. "We only got them this morning!" said George. "So you know, it's only been two hours that you've been in the same room with us and hadn't noticed..." said Fred.

"What happened?" she asked again

"Early Christmas presents from Slytherin!" laughed George.

"We got into a bit of fisticuffs with Flint and Bole.." said Fred hesitantly, although he had a smile playing across his lips. She stared up at Fred questioningly as a series of emotions ran through her, fear, uncertainty, worry, anger at them, anger at the Slytherins, anger at teachers for allowing it to happen, and a hint of humor of it all.

She finally shrugged it off and chuckled, "You should watch out.." They all looked at her, confused as to what she meant.

"Flints teeth could double as a weapon." Fred, George, Angelina and Lee roared with laughter. She raised her wand to Fred's face (he gasped, a little surprised) and said she said "_Episkey_" and the black eye began to fade away. Ariana glowed a little with pride that her spell worked on the first try. Fred squeezed her a little and giggled at her.

"And when George said, 'he'll probably have detention again by then' he wasn't joking!" Ariana laughed. Fred tightened his grip around her shoulder and trekked on happily, Lee close behind. Angelina and George hung back for a second.

"So you two aren't going to mention that the fight was because Flint said something about his cloak?" said Angelina. George shrugged and they walked on.

Meanwhile, Fred distanced himself and Ariana from the others as they walked. They need a bit of privacy….and when they were out of earshot he began to unleash his barage of questions.

"What have you been up to lately?" the tone in his voice was definitely accusatory and not simple small talk, although there was hit of mischievousness in his eyes, although that was quite normal for him. Ariana looked at him questioningly and her heart stopped at his sudden seriousness. Behind them Angelina and Lee began to hurry over to them but George steered them away. "Oh, come on! Give them some _privacy_!"

"What do you mean?" Ariana said, her voice shook a little and a lump formed in her throat. Why was she so worried? Why did she feel guilty suddenly? Her skin began to break out in a sweat despite the chill of the midday breeze blowing across the grounds.

"After hours…" He held a constant eye contact and Ariana felt frantic, desperately unsure of what to do. Professor Lupin's voice resonated through her mind 'Don't confide in a friend…don't confide…' But for the first time her life any half-truth she could come up with felt as if it would be a lie. Ariana cared about Susie but she had no problems with telling half-truths to her…

Fred continued, "Our map…it's never wrong. When you disappeared on Friday night with Dumbledore and didn't want to talk about it, well that's personal, so it's fine. But now you get to run around the castle at night with the teachers…what's that about?"

The color drained from her face. All thoughts slowed and suddenly came to a stop in her mind. Nothing came to her. She just gapped at him uncontrollably. She had a few go to things prepared for when someone asks questions, when someone sees her in the hallway, or when she got back to the common room. She could tell them not to mention it or they would lose house points and no one would bother mentioning it again. But Fred knew everything…well not really but it suddenly felt like it. "Professor Lupin, Professor Flitwick..?" Fred continued.

Suddenly one single and profound realization shined brightly in her mind, "Are you spying on me?!" In contrast to her, the color rushed into Fred's face. He hadn't really expected that. He began stuttering and ran his hands through his hair, "Well..uh..no. It's not like that.. Um …it's just a map! I can't help what I see!"

Ariana turned on her heal and walked towards Hagrid's hut, where the class was already beginning. As she began to walk away Fred grabbed her by the wrist. She paused and he said, "…Fine! " and he released her. She hurried to the class, flushed, irritated and a little scared as to the consequences she would be facing in the near future.

The day flew by, and then the week. Hogwarts began to grow very chilled, especially at night and early morning. However, Ariana was used to it and was unfazed by the cold stone steps throughout the castle. She still wore her skirt with high socks when other girls began to wear pants below their cloaks or tights beneath their skirts. Ariana began to enjoy herself in her classes again, she was beginning to feel right at home at Hogwarts. She was even beginning to blend in with society here; just like Professor Lupin had said. Despite this she was struggling worse than ever in Transfiguration, but Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts was improving. That is until they moved on to a new topic. Ariana enjoyed Care of Magical Creatures most of all. Ariana spent a lot of time chatting with Angelina and Lee and they often paired together for assignments. She spent the nights rereading each chapter of her monster book of monsters in the common room. She wanted desperately to go back to the North Wing like her and Susie had a week ago, but she tried to distance herself to avoid more questions from Fred. Fred and Ariana seemed to be suddenly distant. Although he didn't not ignore her, he no longer bopped her on the nose, put his arm around her, or call her Lamb Shanks and the thought of that caused a piercing sensation in her chest that she couldn't understand. She assumed anything Fred knew or was suspicious of, George was in on too. They must have watched their bewitched map together and spotted her, just like they had Cassius. No information was safe from them..She wondered if the whole Weasley family was suspicious of her..

A sickness grew in her stomach when she thought of them finding out her secret. What if they began to hate her? What if they mocked her and told everyone, making her leave the school? Visions of their angry and spiteful faces- the same faces the Bogart had made, swam through her head for weeks.

September ended and October began and with it came a large clamor of excitement. The holidays were near. And so was the trip to Hogsmeade. Posters went up in the common rooms about it. A trip to Hogsmeade would be held on Halloween. Students, especially third years, grew more and more rambunctious as the date neared. Ariana couldn't contain her excitement either. Although she had already visited, the prospect of visiting with her friends caused her to bristle with excitement.

The day the poster was put up in the Ravenclaw Tower there was such a commotion that Ariana couldn't concentrate on her Ancient Runes essay. Susie was nowhere to be found-Ariana no longer had someone who could shoot silencing glares across the room and instantly quiet boisterous students. A little ruffled, she packed her things and began to head towards the North Wing. Halfway there she remembered she was supposed to be avoiding the North Wing so she decided to study in the quiet and delightfully stuffy library. When Ariana walked into the library she took a deep breath and savored the dusty smell of the tomes around her. She found a quiet little seat in a very quiet corner of the deliciously quiet library. She organized her things in front of her neatly and began scribbling away, the words flowing from her easily at the cost of the legibility of her handwriting. She worked for hours on it until a soft shuffling sound caught her attention. She looked up to see Ginny who's face showed she was just as surprised to see her. Ginny had just rounded the corner with the bushy brown haired girl in tow. They looked around for seats and then eyed the vacant ones at Ariana's table then approached. The bushy haired girl spoke, rather confidently, "Mind if we sit here? The other seats are taken." She didn't wait for an answer before unloading her things on the table; her bag was almost larger than her. Ariana replied anyway, just for politeness sake, "Sure." and she flashed them a smile. Ginny grinned back at her and they unpacked their books and parchment. The bushy haired girl eyed Ariana's History of Magic textbook markedly. "Is that the book for grade five? May I?" she pointed to it excitedly. Ariana passed the heavy tome to the girl and she flipped through it blissfully saying things like, "Oh I was wondering when he'd cover that…" and "Ah! Interesting!" Ariana chuckled at her. "This is Hermione, by the way" Ginny giggled too.

"Pleased to meet you!" Ariana held out her hand, "I'm Ariana."

Hermione glanced at her hand and shook it distractedly, "Pleasure."

Ginny and Ariana exchanged glances and grinned. They worked contently on their school work for nearly an hour until Ginny broke the silence.

"Fred…Fred's been a bit sour recently.."

"Why's that?" Ariana asked with her face austere.

She seemed to instantly regret asking the question. She glanced down at her hands in her lap and said, "Dunno…" Ariana sensed she was worried about her brother, or asking on his behalf and there was a strange sensation that came over her. She felt bad for Fred. He didn't understand why she couldn't tell him. Ariana took a deep breath and smiled, "Maybe you should chuck a stink pellet at him. He likes those, doesn't he…?" Ginny laughed louder than she should have in a library and Hermione gave a little giggle. They received dirty looks from the other students -mostly Ravenclaws. Ariana was proud to see they were making good use of the library and upholding their Ravenclaw priorities. They continued working for nearly another hour until Hermione spoke.

"It's nearly time for practice now.." she said.

Ginny look at her and then nodded her head. They began to pack their belongings up and Ariana kept studying. Ginny glanced at her then exchanged a look with Hermione. They nodded in agreement and Ginny said, "Do you want to come along? We're going to go see Harry practice Quidditch…..Fred and George will be there too.." She added awkwardly. The two younger girls stared at her for a response. Ariana was unsure of what to do. She glanced around and slowly closed her book. She packed her things and followed the two younger girls.

They filed into the stands as the Gryffindor Quidditch team walked out onto the field. For not being interested in Quidditch, Ariana spent a lot of time in these stands…

Hermione chatted to them happily about a question she knew the answer to in Potions class. "I don't know_ why _he doesn't call on me…I was raising my hand as high as I could! How could he not see me?" Ginny reminded Ariana of Susie in the stands when she was watching Cassius. Ginny's eyes were locked on Harry as he flew around during practice. Every now and then, barely audible she would say, "Ohhhh, good one Harry!" or something of the sort Ariana giggled to herself but stopped suddenly when she realized she too had come to watch a boy… She quickly convinced herself she was there to see Angelina and Alicia too.

The three girls chatted comfortably about Quidditch. Hermione was Muggleborn and had never seen a professional match. Ginny enthused about them, having been to a few herself. Twenty minutes into practice an unkempt head of red hair bumbled itself up into the stands. Ron took a seat next to Hermione.

"You're late.." she said firmly.

"I had to drag Scabbers out from under my bed…petrified he is! All because of your-"

"Oh, don't start that again!" interrupted Hermione and Ron mumbled as he cupped his shaking rat in his hands.

"This is Ariana." Ginny motioned to Ariana and she gave a friendly wave and smile. Ron nodded and mumbled something about Fred and Hermione jabbed him in the ribcage.

Ariana spent much of the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch Practice telling Hermione about the differences between the Expulso charm and the Confringo charm. Ron's head lulled up and down throughout practice and Ariana supposed he had been late because he had fallen asleep after classes; not because of his pet rat as he had said.

In between discussion, Ariana looked up to see Fred and George floating above their stands. They pointed at Ron as they spoke out of ear shot. George- or Fred, Ariana wasn't quite sure unless they spoke, had one Bludger in hand and the other had one hooked under his arm. They released a Bludger and smacked it soaring right for Ron as he dozed off in the stands. It hit Ron square in the face.

He screamed and fell from his seat and the girls dived for cover. George flew over and caught the Bludger skillfully in his hands before it could hit anyone again. Ron was very reeling. He held a hand over his nose as blood dripped form it profusely. Fred and George cackled with laughter and Hermione ragged at them.

"You could have seriously injured him!" she screeched at the twins. Despite being nearly half their size Hermione was a little intimidating when she fussed, although apparently not as intimidating as their mother because the boys were not bothered by her at all.

"I AM seriously injured!" roared Ron, muffled by his hand and the blood seeping between his fingers. Hermione fussed over Ron as she tried to mend his nose. She continued fussing at him saying, "If you were paying attention this wouldn't have happened!" Ron couldn't get a word in otherwise.

While Hermione and Ron were distracted Ariana noticed Ginny whisper to her brothers, "Nice shot.." and they laughed.

"I told him I could hit that big nose from that far away!" said George.

Hermione ushered Ron down the bleachers and onto the grounds, fussing at him the whole way as they headed for the hospital wing.

In one smooth motion Fred flipped on his broom so that both legs were on one side and landed over Ariana deftly, with one foot on either side of her on the bleachers. Ariana leaned back uncomfortably; Fred was filthy with dirt and sweat.

"Why are you here, Lamb Shanks?"

"How did I ever get the nickname 'Lamb Shanks' anyway?" Ariana asked.

"We'll you're so smart, you tell me!"

Fred and George laughed and Ariana gave a half-hearted scowl. "Wanna go uh round?" Fred asked with a cheeky grin spreading across his face.

"Of Quidditch?" Ariana asked.

Fred couldn't contain himself, "No. Of Hide and Seek, Ari. You close your eyes and count to forty and then come find me. m'kay?"

Ariana gave him an irked face and they all laughed.

"Sure. I'll play a round of Quidditch with you."

"What are we? Spectators? Aren't we invited? Or is this a 'puppy love only' game?" Asked George, equally as cheeky as Fred. Ariana sputtered awkwardly but Fred was completely unfazed. "Two on two." Fred dictated, spinning around to face his brother with his hands on his hips.

Ginny was bouncing up and down in her seat. "Me and Ari against you two knobs!"

"OHHHHHHHHhhhh" the twins jeered, "Don't let mum catch you talking like that Ginny!" said George.

Fred jokingly wiped an imaginary tear from his eyes and said, "…we've taught her well, Georgie…I'm so proud!"

Ginny snatched Fred's broom from him and left to help George procure two more brooms from the broom closet. Ariana had scooted away and leaned her torso on the row of seats behind her. Fred stood with his weight on one leg, other knee cocked, and eyed her up and down appraisingly. She raised an eyebrow at him and he offered her a deal, " You tell me your secrets and I'll tell you why I call you Lamb Shanks." A smirk formed on his face.

She laughed so heartily she lost her balance and fell into the foot room of the row behind her, and she stayed there for another bout of laughter before pulling herself up again. "How about…no?" she retorted and Fred feigned a frown that quickly curved back into a smirk. "Why can't I know?"

"Hmn…" Ariana tried to think of an excuse while dabbing her finger on her chin.

"I mean, how important could it be? Like, for instance is it 'you could fail a class' important? Or 'people at Hogwarts are in danger'? Or is it 'Ministry of Magic' level of importance? Does it involve Sirius Black? Are you Sirius Black in disguise?! IS HE your father?- no, can't be. The Bogart turned into your father and he was blonde… " he rattled off questions.

Talk of Sirius Black caught Ariana by surprise and she answered honestly, "No. It doesn't involve Black." She remembered when Professor Dumbledore had discussed this in his office.

"Then how important is it?"

"It's not important." Ariana said and then the most stunning and genuine smile flashed across her face. It nearly made Fred lose his balance on the bleachers. His mouth gaped open and he quickly shut it.

"They're nearly back." He pointed to two dots flying back from the castle.

"Tell me why you call me Lamb Shanks?" she asked quickly.

"You didn't tell me all your secrets did you?" he winked.

Ginny and George returned with a broom in each hand. The four paired up and discussed their strategies; Ginny and George were Beaters and Ariana and Fred were Chasers. Ariana quickly learned that Ginny was a very violent young girl. She had a strong arm and could send the Bludger flying, she didn't hesitated to chuck them directly towards her brothers heads. Luckily Fred and George were expert flyers and quickly maneuvered around them. She got the feeling Fred and George were responsible for instilling this violence in Ginny. Perhaps that is what twin older brothers will do to a sibling.

Ariana was glad Ginny was on her side…

George aimed the Bludger for Ariana but only when she was in position of the Quaffle and he was also very considerate in aiming for her torso instead of her head. Fred used dirty tactics like speeding ahead of her and stopping directly in her line of flight. She had to swerve to avoid a collision. Fred also grabbed her by the waist of her skirt as she flew by once- mind you she had tights on under it because of the cold. He grabbed the Quaffle from her hands and flew off in the other direction towards his goals. Ariana screeched after them, "That's a foul! No grabbing!" much to the amusement of the twins. They paused their advancement on the goal and few around her in great barrel rolls and mocked her by crying like infants and rubbing the imaginary tears from their eyes. Ginny gave a powerful whack of the Bludger in their direction for her benefit. Ariana was horrible at making shots on the goal. She had to fly up to the goal, nearly touching it but Fred would often intercept her by that time. Fred scored the first three goals, leaving the score three to zilch for most of the game. Ariana finally made a shot and George grabbed the falling Quaffle and brought it to the other end of the field and scored.

"BUT UR A BEATER!" Ginny shrieked angrily after him, her face suddenly resembling that of a bulldog. Ginny took this very seriously…

Ariana followed suit and snatch the ball from Fred as he rounded the goal posts to make the last shot- nearly knocking him off his broom. Ariana flew as fast as she could, the wind stinging her eyes and she made a goal, caught it and made another making the score 4-3. She was suspicious of Fred and George of lagging behind on purpose so they could even the score a little. Fred bumped her from the side when she wasn't looking and she lost possession. The Bludger came pelting towards her, sent over by George with a smile, so she quickly ducked to avoid it. By then Fred had gotten the Quaffle. Ariana raced after him, Ginny pelted the Bludger at him as he passed. Being a more experienced flyer, Fred was very quick and Ariana couldn't catch up. They were nearly at the goal post when Ariana reached the tail of his broom. She reached out, grabbed a handful of straw and held on as best she could. Fred slowed considerably, glanced back at her, and laughed. He did a roll and she lost her grip. They both raced for the goal again - it would be the winning goal if it went in, and Fred shot, Ariana raced for it but it slipped through the goal neatly. She didn't have time to stop and had too much momentum behind her so she tucked her arms and legs and flew through the goal herself. Fred roared with laughter, "Is that six points then?" He flung his arms in the air in victory.

Ariana gasped for breath but laughed along with him, draped across her broom in exhaustion. They swooped to the ground with the Quaffle in hand. Ginny and George wrestled the Bludger back into the trunk and Fred and Ariana slowly walked the length of the Quidditch field, laughing awkwardly as they shared unfunny jokes.

George glanced at Ginny as they stood on the opposite end of the field and bitterly said, "You think they realize they've got brooms in their hands?"

Ginny- now calmed down a bit, covered her mouth and giggled.

"Whatever happened to your game with Susie and those _gits_?" "Cassius and Malfoy?" "…EW." Fred scrunched up his nose and Ariana laughed. She felt the same way.

"It was horrible. " she said honestly but quickly added, "But don't mention that to Susie."

They shared a moment of silence then Ariana spoke again, "Fred. Before…when I took you up on your offer to help me with Quidditch, you said it would cost me?"

"Ah!" he said as the memory flickered in front of his eyes and then a flash of mischief followed. She shouldn't have reminded her debtee of her debt..she instantly regretted it.

"You have to tell me your secret."

"No. I can't."

"No, you have to."

"No, I really can't, Fred!"

"Fine. Why do you wear those gloves?"

"No."

"Then it's part of your secret then. Hmnnn.." he tapped his hand on his forehead, "Who's gloves are they?"

"My fathers!" Ariana said happily. It was true. They were large for her and hung from her slim hands awkwardly. They were also very worn down, but made from very good quality dragon hide.

"And where is he?"

"Dead."

Fred coughed, shocked by her blatant honesty. "What is you're fathers name?"

"No."

"Ah. He's important too…"

"Shuttup, Fred."

He laughed, "Does Susie know much about him?"

"No."

"She still like that _prat_?"

"Yea.-"

"-even after you told her?"

Ariana nodded her head disdainfully.

"_Why?"_ he asked incredulously.

"I guess people can't help themselves sometimes…" Ariana said solemnly, hoping her friend doesn't end up heart broken.

"Guess not…" Fred said wistfully as his ears turned bright red. He quickly looked away and gulped harshly.

"Well…George would have her if she ever gets bored of him.." he joked mater-of-factly. Ariana laughed.

They reached the Quidditch trunk and glanced around to see Ginny and George, motionless and splayed across the grass dramatically. Fred and Ariana exchanged questioning glances and George filled them in, barely moving his lips or even opening his eyes, "We died waiting for you two…"

Ginny and George quickly hopped up; George patted Ginny on the back for a job well done.

Fred and George carried the equipment between them and Ginny and Ariana carried the brooms. They walked back to the castle chatting contently.

Ariana was the first to spot them -green dots slowly bobbing towards them.

"Oh, it's your favorite people." Ariana pointed towards them. The Slytherin Quidditch team was headed straight for them. Moans and groans echoed between the twins.

"God! Can we just use the Immobulus charm on them and hide them behind the bleachers until next year!?"

"I'm so sick of them and I haven't even crossed words with them yet this year."

They trotted across the grounds and met them head on. Flint and Malfoy were towards the front, leading the pack of hulking dummies and Cassius was towards the back looking particularly bored and uninterested in their encounter - he never once met Ariana's glance. Malfoy sneered as he glared over the Weasley's. His line of sight fell on Ariana and he addressed her, ignoring the rest of them.

"I hope you're paying them to carry your things. They need it, you know. Weasley's can't afford charity work."

George came back at him with an extremely mocking tone, as fast as lighting, "Ah, Malfoy, good to see they were nice enough to keep you on the team even though Harry beat you so badly last season!"

"Yeah, what position do they let you play these days? The Quaffle?" countered Fred.

Ariana burst out laughing, she tried desperately to muffle it behind her hand but she couldn't. Fred was beaming, encouraged by her laughter and feeling quite proud of himself for his joke.

Malfoy glowered at them darkly. "Didn't I tell you, you shouldn't associate with Blood traitors?" Malfoy seethed. George make a move for Malfoy at the slur but Fred grabbed a hold of his arm and Ginny jumped in front of him and looked up at him pleadingly.

"I'll do what I like, Malfoy." Ariana said calmly, rather indifferent of his opinion.

He scoffed and the Slytherin team marched out onto the field for practice.

Ariana glanced back at the Weasleys and saw the anger in their faces, she wished she had said something harsh to Malfoy on their behalf. They walked back to the castle in silence. Ginny insisted on taking the brooms for her and they took the gear back to the broom closet. Ariana returned to her common room, alone and missing the Weasleys already.

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**Next Chapter: The Flight of the Fat Lady**


	10. Chapter 10 - The Flight of the Fat Lady

_Author's note: Wow, this is great timing considering the season! Happy Halloween and enjoy! Please comment and let me know what you think! I love hearing from you guys!_

* * *

**Chapter 10 - The Flight of the Fat Lady**

Classes were beginning to become mundane again. Ariana was still very interested in them but the stress they were causing her beat her enthusiasm into the cold stone floor. Ariana began to look forward to her late night classes with Professor Flitwick and Professor Lupin. Both of them were very kind and patient with her. She spent her time in either the Ravenclaw common room, the North Wing, or the library, but the story was much the same. She sat with her books skewed in front of her, all turned to relevant pages as she consulted one, and then another while writing her essays, summarizing and answering questions for homework. In her spare time -which she rarely had these days, Ariana began studying for her O.W.L.S for which she was very behind. By the end of the school week Ariana was consistently falling asleep in between classes, including during meals. Once she fell asleep at breakfast and knocked over a burly looking seventh year's milk. It sloshed over his textbook and blotched his essay he was writing. He was furious but Ariana fell asleep during his rant that followed.

She met Hermione in the Library and in the North Hall on more than one occasion. She often said the Gryffindor common room was much too loud to study. On one such occasion Hermione joined Ariana in the North Wing on the seventh floor she began to pester her. Ariana didn't mind honest inquisitiveness, it was a wonderful trait, however, there is a fine line between inquisitive and nosey. Hermione toed that line often.

"Are you _really_ not related to Nicolas Flamel? I mean, Me, Harry and Ron learned about him in our first year. He could be a distant cousin or something, although he must be far too old for that…Maybe great great-Grandfather? I just can't believe there is no relation at all..I mean, how could you know? You couldn't could you? And it's not a very common name is it? No, I've never heard it before. But then again, I'm muggle-born so maybe it's a common wizarding name. But I would have come across it in my studies before now wouldn't I?"

Ariana wanted to throw her textbook at her. She didn't respond to her as Hermione seemed to answer her own questions when she was talking. Susie ran up the stairs to find her before dinner and Ariana was elated.

Susie was spending more and more time with Cassius. She would go with him to the Slytherin Dungeons after classes and before dinner, and after dinner…Ariana didn't mind but she worried for Susie. She often mentioned Cassius' untrustworthiness and Susie nodded in agreement, however Ariana knew she didn't truly mean it. She was more and more interested in Cassius, or as Ariana thought of it, she fell deeper and deeper into his web. That's what many Slytherins were, not snakes, but spiders. Snakes were cool, interesting and quiet - Erma was a snake. Most of the other Slytherin's were bothersome.

Ariana spend more and more time with Erma in Susie's absence. They were constant partners in Herbology while Susie paired with Cassius. Erma was great company at the library but she was much too frightened to ascend to the North Hall, it too far from the dungeons. Many students felt as if the houses had territories outlined across the school.

Ariana couldn't care less. She went wherever she pleased.

One day in late October Ariana ascended two floors to the North Hall to do her school work. Hogsmeade and Halloween were approaching quickly and as the excitement across the school built, so did the volume and the common rooms became alive with chatter. The North Hall remained quite as it was under constant surveillance and regular haunting place of Percy. Percy came across as very pompous but Ariana didn't mind, as he always seemed to leave her to her studies.

It was late in the week and Ariana had many homework assignments to occupy her. She laid on her back across the floor in front of the warm fireplace, which seemed to be constantly lit. She was rereading the chapter of their charms book, holding it high above her head.

She didn't make it halfway through the chapter before her eye lids began to flutter with drowsiness and the book slowly came closer and closer. In the warm spot by the fireplace in the early afternoon, she fell asleep.

If she were a wise Ravenclaw student, she wouldn't have fallen asleep so near the Gryffindor towers as information spreads very quickly. Angelina and Alicia caught sight of her and mentioned it Fred and George in passing. Of course they couldn't miss an opportunity to bother her, especially if it meant they had a reason to skip Astronomy. On their way they spotted Neville's toad, Trevor and snatched him up. In all honesty they were often the reason Neville couldn't find his toad and they often discussed buying one of their own. Toads were very useful for bothering girls.

When they emerged in the North Hall the students who recognized them stared as they knew they were up to no good.

They found Ariana asleep on a very comfy rug in front of the fire, Charms book sliding across her sleeping face. George slowly lifted the book away from her and stifled their laughter as best they could, Fred with Trevor in hand. As soon as George removed the textbook, Fred was slowly lowering the toad onto her sleeping face. Trevor kicked out as he was lowered and Ariana took a slimy toad foot to the eye. She groggily rubbed her eye, still barely conscious, but the sound of suppressed giggling woke her. She opened her eyes and saw Trevor hovering before her; small, slimy, beady eyes and pimply skin. She made a small squalling noise, thrashed her feet and threw out her arms to push it away. Fred, George, and a few Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students who had stopped their studies to watch the twins antics, laughed.

"Oww…" Ariana held one hand on her temple and the other to shield her eyes from the flickering light of the fire. The unpleasant awakening gave her and instant headache.

George quickly procured a handful of candies from his cloak pocket and handed them to her, quickly appeasing her and taking her mind from her headache. Ariana had to wonder if this was Ginny's life summed up into a few moments. Ariana sorted through them and made Fred and George eat the ones she didn't recognize in case they were joke candies.

They missed Astronomy entirely and remained with Ariana in the North Hall, begging her to write their Potions essays for them. Eventually they settled on writing them if she helped them 'every now and then'. And by those guidelines the end result was Ariana narrated their essays as they quickly jotted them down.

"- it wasn't until the 1800's that tulip roots were reintroduced into the Shrinking potion, as by that time the wizarding world had discovered filtering them with warm water would remove any unwanted side effects. -" she dictated. "That's two scrolls worth of parchment right?"

George nodded. " …'The End'..", he narrated as he wrote it at the bottom of the roll of parchment. He dotted the last period with a flourish of his quill. Fred laid on his stomach, lolling his legs behind him lazily as he poked the fire and glanced at Ariana off and on.

"It's too good." Fred said stalely.

"Wut?" she asked indignantly.

George signed and said, "He's right…We'll lose house points because it's too good."

"Slimeball-Snape won't believe we've done our homework.."

"That uphill gardener…"

"Trouser pilot"

"Marmite miner"

"Treacle dipper"

"Bet that's why he likes Malfoy so much…"

"We're been going about this all wrong for five years, mate!" and they roared with laughter.

"…but…you_ aren't_ doing your homework…." Ariana whispered, exacerbated. The twins glared at her, then pounced; tackling her into a rough dogpile. They pinned her to the carpet and tickled her fiercely. They didn't let go until tears formed in the corner of her eyes and Percy came to fuss at them for being too loud.

The excitement about the upcoming visit to Hogsmeade kept Ariana going despite her fatigue. Every chance they got, Ariana and Susie went over their game plan on how to spend their day at Hogsmeade. Susie had a lot of places she wanted to show Ariana, she listed a clothing store, a store that sold items soaked in love potions and skin care products, but one store they both agreed upon excitedly was Honeydukes. They also vigorously agreed they had to stay until it got dark and go through the Shrieking shack in honor of the holidays.

During the last Herbology class of the week, Erma stopped repotting a Norwegian Scaley Rosebush and turned to Ariana. She flushed shyly and asked, "Will you be going to Hogsmeade this Halloween?" Ariana nodded cheerfully.

"Would you…." Erma went green in the face and struggled to continue, "…do you mind….if I tag along?"

Ariana laughed kindly and they agreed to meet at the door immediately after breakfast.

The Friday before the trip to Hogsmeade were some of the loudest classes of the year. Students were blatantly ignoring teachers lectures as they chatted excitedly about their plans amongst friends. Many of the teachers angrily resorted to releasing them from classes early; teachers like Professor Sprout and Professor Binns. Other teachers, like Snape, resorted to taking away House points which resulted in absolute submission from his classes.

"If I hear one more mention of dates for the upcoming trip to Hogsmeade I will ban you from going and force you to clean bed pans in the Hospital Wing instead." was what Snape threatened after a Hufflepuff girl was caught whispering while he was talking.

Professor Lupin was one of the only teachers who kept a silent class without any unnecessary actions. He went over a short lecture but spent the second half of the class telling them about a few of his exploits at Hogwarts during his time. George and Fred listened rapturously and cheered Lupin's praises once class was over.

Susie and Ariana, like many of the other students, were much too excited to do school work so they spend their time out on the Hogwarts grounds during the daylight hours. Susie and Ariana ran into Cassius and they skipped rocks into the lake. They dinned and Susie spend much of Saturday writing excessively long letters to her relatives for the holidays. Ariana learned the Thompson family was an older wizarding family and it too was very large. After she finished each letter and addressed the envelope, Ariana ran them up to the owlry to deliver them for her.

Halloween morning arrived and the girls sprang from their beds. They ate a quick breakfast and nearly dragged Erma from her seat at the Slytherin table. They headed for the large oak doors leading from the castle and fidgeted impatiently in line as Mr. Filch crossed checked names off of a list. When they were released it was like a stampede for Hogsmeade. Students clambered into the large inky black carriages led by Thestrals. Ariana gapped at them as she walked by, she walked so slowly Susie resorted to dragging her into their carriage. Erma noticed her sluggishness and commented on it, "You can see them can't you?"

Ariana glanced away from them quickly to look at her friends faces as they observed her. She nodded, remembering a person couldn't see them unless they had seen death.

Erma and Susie exchanged glances, silently wondering who Ariana had seen die. These darker thoughts dimmed the excitement during the ride to Hogsmeade, but when the carriages came to a stop the excitement filled them again. They burst from the carriages and began their three girl raid of Hogsmeade.

Susie, Ariana and Erma traveled from store to store to store. Susie was the biggest spender of all but Ariana came in a very close second. She was in absolute euphoria in Honeydukes and she elbowed through the large crowd of students to buy armfuls of candies. They had large succulent looking toffees of which Ariana drooled over, and even more so for the many types of chocolates (hundreds!) that filled an entire wall. Droobles Best Blowing gum and Sugar Quills were some of her close favorites, next to the chocolates that is.

After that they entered a small shop called_ Whimsical Witches Wishes_. The store was filled with perfumes that attracted the opposite sex (or one for the same sex), they had scented quills, incense, and candles of all purposes. The store was just off of the main road that ran through Hogsmeade and was drastically less crowded than Honeydukes and other stores like Spintwitches and Dervish & Banges. It was quite refreshing to be away from the hustle and bustle of the main street. Ariana roamed around the store until she spotted a Mood Candle that changed scents and light intensity as the occupants of the room's mood changed. Ariana instantly thought of Dumbledore so she grabbed one for him. Ariana wondered what scents Dumbledore's would be; lemon, sherbet, and ginger maybe? She also bought rose scented quills and color changing ink -they would make studying even more enjoyable. Erma; who quickly fell in love with the store, bought as much as she could afford. She bought skin clearing incense, candles infused with a love potion, a Concentration Candle and much, much more. They left the store ladened with goods and laughing delightedly.

They went into another store, _Druger's Dashing Designs, _in which had the latest witches fashions. Susie, Ariana and Erma each bought a new winter half-cloak that reached to their thighs but still met Hogwarts uniform standards. It was made from a fine silk material that swayed elegantly as they walked; the cloaks were very expensive. They each quickly removed their old cloaks and donned on their new ones so they could parade them proudly across Hogsmeade.

They wandered around the shops aimlessly and enjoyed lunch at a small eatery that could have easily have been mistaken for someone's home. An elderly witch tended to them happily.

When the girls had had their fill of warm tea and snacks they paid and went back out into the brisk Halloween air, arms filled with their shopping bags. They soon tired of their bags and a rather ingenious idea popped into Ariana's head.

"Come on!" she giggled and ran down the crowded street.

Erma and Susie looked at her puzzled, but quickly followed after her. Ariana turned a corner and stared up a large building - the Post Office.

"What are you up to?" asked Susie, impatient for an explanation.

"Let's mail our bags to the castle so we don't have to carry them anymore..." Ariana laughed.

"I think that's an abuse of the mailing system..." Erma whispered lightly with a chuckle. It seemed the Post Office worker shared that opinion. Her face turned sour as she looked all of their many shopping bags but she didn't say anything. Ariana had a sneaking suspicion they weren't the only students to have thought of this. Ariana took the Mood Candle from a bag and stuffed it in her cloak while Susie and Erma sent off their bags. Ariana took a moment to awe over the many owls that filled the Post Office. They were very beautiful and of all shapes and sizes. She tried to guess their breeds as she walked through rows and rows of owls, all arranged by speed of transport. Susie and Erma waited outside while Ariana sent her things. She thanked the worker and filed outside to see Cassius and Flint had joined them. Erma was whimpering behind Susie as she excitedly told Cassius about their shopping. Flint grinned at Ariana as she approached and it nearly made her vomit but she took a deep breath, held her lunch down and gave him a feigned smile in return.

"Hello." she greeted them.

"Hey." "hey."

Erma quickly shifted so she was hiding behind Ariana instead of Susie. She looked paler than usual, which was rather difficult for someone who was still alive and well, and her pale blonde hair was rather disheveled. Ariana turned to her and rearranged it for her. She gave her a comforting pat on the head when she had finished and it seemed to do wonders for Erma's meek disposition. Erma straightened up a bit but stayed close to Ariana's side for the remainder of the day. Ariana wondered if she had missed something, if Erma liked one of the boys or if she was deathly afraid of them. Intuition told her it was the latter of the three.

"How about we get some Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks?" Flint suggested in his scratchy, mumbling voice.

The group nodded in agreement and headed for the Three Broomsticks. If Ariana thought the streets were crowded, it was nothing compared to the Three Broomsticks. It was a struggle to be seated as all of the tables were packed with students, they had even conjured chairs and were sitting in the walkways so it was difficult for them to squeeze past.

They eventually found a small booth in the back of the restaurant and a waitress quickly got their order. They chit chatted happily as they sipped their Butterbeer, even Flint wasn't too obnoxious, Ariana supposed it was a side of affect of the disease known as Malfoy. In fact it was only when they were at the bottom of their mugs that he began to annoy her.

"Ah! There are your boyfriends, Ariana!" Flint pointed over her shoulder. Ariana looked and saw two bright haired twins surrounded by a sea of Gryffindor crimson. Susie laughed lightly and Ariana smiled. "Do you really like them?!" Flint shouted incredulously. Ariana shrugged her shoulders and her eyes became steely -daring him to cross the line, "They're very hilarious. Look how many friends they have..." she nodded her head towards them. They were in fact surrounded by friends. Angelina, Ron, Hermione, Alicia, Lee, Neville, even the head of the Gryffindor Quidditch team was with them. Flint sneered at the Gryffindors, "You girls are much too pretty to be talking to tossers like _them_." Susie wasn't even listening to him and Ariana wanted to beam her empty mug at his face but Erma made an embarrassed squeaking noise and distracted her. Having missed the timing, Ariana resorted to glaring at him. He noticed her disgruntlement and quickly cleared his throat, "Ah! mugs are empty...I'll go fix that.." he excused himself. Susie and Cassius whispered in the corner and Erma and Ariana exchanged glances.

"I hope he gets stomped on by a troll before he comes back..." she whispered so only Erma could hear her. She giggled behind her hand. A few moments later Marcus returned with two Butterbeers.

"Ah...I've got to be going, ladies." he bowed stupidly and left them. Erma hopped over to the window and peaked through the blinds. She gasped.

"Oh no!" Ariana howled in the most mocking voice she could muster, "We've been stood up!" Susie halted her whispers for a moment to laugh with them. Now that they were freed from Flint, Erma and Ariana spent their time spying on Fred and George from the back of the pub.

Professor Lupin visited the Three Broomsticks, along with a few other staff members, and George jumped onto a table to give him a rendition of his interpretation of last years events involving Professor Quirrell. He played the part of a very effeminate Professor Quirrell and Fred hopped on the table to play the part of Harry, now a wizard, sword champion and wielder of a very high pitched, squeaky voice. Their antics left the pub in stiches, some from laughter, and Percy actually needed stiches when George kicked a mug off the table by accident and it hit him square in the nose. Ariana suspected it wasn't an accident as he spent their performance correcting them on trivialities from the sidelines.

Ariana and Erma watched them, amused, and she filled Erma in about the sweets and the enchantments Fred and George did for their jokes. Erma was becoming quite fond of them and their cheekiness. They leaned over the back of their benches to spy between conversations. Angelina caught her looking once and Ariana laughed and waved at her earnestly. They called a quits to their snooping to avoid farther embarrassment.

Cassius cleared his throat to get their attention, he looked at Erma and Ariana on the other side of the table and announced, "I'm going to take Susie to Madam Paddifoot's Tea Shop."

"Do you mind?" Susie asked sincerely apologetic.

"No! I'll see you back at the castle." Ariana said.

They left quickly to go to the common date spot and Erma and Ariana waved after them. Ariana got their mugs refilled and Erma switched seats so that they were across from each other.

They became very engrossed in a conversation about Herbology (how to know when Mongolian Cornwebers were ready for pruning) when Ariana felt a sharp tap on her shoulder. For a fleeting moment she imagined Fred and George coming over to invite them into their merry group. She looked up into the persons face with a very blissful expression...and she felt the biggest heartbreak she had ever received.

Malfoy.

Draco Malfoy stood grinning above her, his hair greased back and looking particularly slimy today. Ariana's face fell.

"So, Susie and Cassius went on a date, eh? Who didn't see that one coming?" he asked as he scooted onto the bench with Ariana. "Hello, Draco. " he held his hand out to introduce himself to Erma and she took it weakly. Draco grinned at Erma's meekness. Erma looked at Ariana for help, but what was there to do?

They made idle conversation, Ariana did her best but it was very forced. Malfoy could spend hours complaining about things so she only had to ooh and ah, in appropriate places, but it hurt. It really did. They finished their mugs of Butterbeer and were on their fourth when Erma started acting strangely. She was fidgeting slightly more than usual and her face went a little red. Ariana could see a small film of sweat forming on her brow and she began glancing around the room nervously. But she had no idea what could be wrong with the girl.

The thing that was bothering Erma wasn't a 'thing' but rather, 'them'. Fred and George had snuck into the booth behind them and were acting rather strangely. They were ducking their heads up and down, peering over the back of the booth and over the end of it. Erma, being on the opposite side from them was the only one who could see them. Ariana and Draco were oblivious to the trouble makers.

Malfoy, in fact, didn't notice Erma's strange behavior at all and continued talking about himself, his money, his family and his Quidditch prowess. Ariana would have dozed off if it weren't for the delicious Butterbeer filling her tummy and strange, fidgety Erma. A strange and putrid smell suddenly rose across their table.

"I couldn't believe they had said that, it was -do you smell that?!" Malfoy interrupted himself. Erma and Ariana nodded their heads as the smell became too unbearable and they had to shield their noses.

Fred and George began pelting Malfoy with stink pellets from the booth behind them. The twins were hanging out of the side of the booth and aiming for his pant pockets, which were belled open a little as he sat. They had remarkably good aim, Erma figured they did this sort of thing often.

"What is that?!" Malfoy looked around him, searching for the source of the smell. They looked under the table and around them but couldn't find source of such a horrible smell. The booth behind them appeared to be empty as the mischief makers ducked down low in the seat.

"Maybe someone got sick..." Ariana suggested.

"Maybe..." Malfoy agreed, nose more scrunched up than usual. Erma stiffened awkwardly and Malfoy saw her.

"What's the matter with you?" his voice was too harsh for Erma to handle. "was it you?" he accused with a nasty raised eyebrow. Ariana quickly tried to come up with something to take the strain off of Erma, "Erma's too cute to have anything to do with nasty smells..." she said softly. Draco scoffed and said very rudely, "You know you wouldn't be very bad looking if you straightened up and got some new glasses."

"I think that's as close to a compliment as Draco gets..." Ariana smiled sweetly to Erma, hoping it would lessen Draco's harsh words. It seemed to work -or possibly she was more interested in Fred and George who where trying to stifle their laughter behind them. Their grinning faces were going red as they ducked behind the back of the booth and then popped back up again seconds latter, like oversized garden gnomes, popping out of a garden during a degnoming. Erma went red in the face, trying to stifle her laughter and upon realizing this, Fred and George continued trying to make her laugh.

Some thirty minutes of chatting with Draco dragged on like days filled with Charms classes. Eventually Malfoy began to tire of them. A Slytherin girl in his grade, a girl Ariana had seen doting over him before, called to him from across the room and he eagerly went after her.

"Goodbye, ladies." he cooed as if he was charming. As soon as he left the putrid smell followed him and Ariana was yet again baffled. Erma let out a giggle it seemed she had been holding and Ariana looked at her markedly. "What?!"

She giggled more - a very elated giggle that Ariana had never heard from her before. "Are you up to something?" Ariana asked and Erma turned beat red and couldn't form an answer. When she found her tongue she quickly changed the subject, "Does Susie leave with Cassius often?"

"Sometimes."

"Oh..."

"But...today...we had decided to go to though the Shrieking Shack together, considering it's Halloween and all...but she will probably won't make it...That's why she was so apologetic earlier. "

"Oh..." Erma paused and looked up, then back down, "Well...I could go with you..."

Ariana quickly stood up in her seat and surveyed the room behind her. What was Erma looking at?

She was looking at Fred and George's mischievously beaming faces; they gave her a thumbs up and nodded their heads eagerly. Ariana just missed sight of them as they ducked behind the booth.

"Hhmn...Sure. It's almost dark enough now." Ariana said as she glanced out of the dusty window beside her, " We'd better be quick or well be late getting back to the castle. I don't really want any more detentions..."

" 'Ello dollies!" a strange and harsh voice sounded behind Ariana. The shrill sound made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. A lumpy old woman- or so they assumed, covered in a dirty black cloak from head to toe appeared at the edge of their table. Only the eyes were visible from beneath the cloak and her back bore a large hump. Ariana wondered if she was a hag, and eyed her cautiously, Erma nearly jumped from her seat at the sight of the creature.

The hags sickly and piercing voice continued, " Yes...yes..." It muttered, "You girl." It gestured a cloak strewn hand towards Ariana and it began to rub its temple mysteriously.

"I can see what will come...Yes. I can see what is imminent. Today is a very..._.very_ important day...yes...Allhallows Eve...but you...you have a curse upon you! " the creature continued to point at Ariana and she looked at Erma questioningly. "There is a charming boy in your life, is there not? You must kiss him before the witching hour or you will lose your chance at ever finding love, my dear. That is the only way to break your curse!

And you!" the hag pointed at Erma and a small scream escaped her mouth. "_If _you are looking for a way in, check the side by the barren elm tree. An entrance lies there..." the hag whispered ominously and it slowly left them.

As soon as it had, Erma shot over to Ariana and Ariana chuckled at her, "If you're this scared now, do you really think we should be going to the Shrieking Shack, Erma? I heard its terrifying..." Erma gulped loudly and a meek, "yes..." fluttered from her.

Ariana laughed again, "Then we should get going or we'll be late for curfew."

They quickly downed their last Butterbeer and they paid their waitress and left. Erma glanced at the booth behind them and noticed the devious twins had disappeared. The Three Broomsticks was getting gradually less and less crowded as students began to return to the castle after a tiring day of Hogsmeade. Many of the students had returned for the Halloween feast, however Erma and Ariana had already missed it. Instead of following the flow of students towards the castle, they turned down a side street and headed briskly for the Shrieking Shack.

When they arrived they were very surprised to see that every opening to the small, frail looking building was boarded up. The door was sealed quite tightly, it didn't budge when Ariana rammed her shoulder to it, and it didn't unlock when Erma used the Unlocking charm. Confused, they wandered around the shack, looking for an entrance. The shack stood alone on a cleared hill on the edge of the village. The shape of the building curved eerily and looked as if it could collapse at any moment. There was once pealing paint on the frame of the building but much of it had long gone. The yard was clear, save for shrubs that had long died, and a tree on one side of the house.

"Is that...?"

"What!?" Erma squeaked.

"An elm tree?" Ariana said disbelievingly, "It's an elm tree."

"A _barren_ elm tree! '_If you are looking for a way in, check the side by the barren elm tree! An entrance lies there!' _" Erma exclaimed, "The fortune telling Hag from the Three Broomsticks! She was right!"

A chill ran down Erma's spine and she shivered and held on to Ariana's cloak sleeve. Ariana tried to remain rational, but it was quite eerie, maybe the hag had over heard them talking about the Shrieking Shack?

A little bit of fear flooded into Ariana's veins but also a large amount of curiosity. Now they _had _to go in didn't they?

Ariana walked towards the elm tree and Erma clung tightly to her sleeve and whimpered but followed along slowly. They rounded the side of the decrepit house and sure enough, a tiny window in a section of the basement that showed above ground was still in tact. Ariana reached for it and pried it open with some difficulty. She glanced in, but couldn't see anything through the gloom.

Ariana looked up at Erma, who was shaking uncontrollably, and smiled, "Ready?" Ariana had almost said 'there is nothing so close to Hogwarts that could hurt you...' but then she thought of her experience in the dark forest. Manticores..trolls...yeah, never mind there were loads of dangerous things around Hogwarts.

Erma squeaked and Ariana took that as a 'yes' and she threw her legs in first and slithered into a dark, damp, basement. Her feet made a sloshing noise as they hit the damp floor. She reached in her cloak and pulled out her wand, "_Lumos_"

A dim light filled the room. It was a typical basement, stone floors and old, wall paper lined walls that were pealing, it was filled with spare furniture but Ariana noticed there was extensive damage to them. And not just water damage, but large chunks had been ripped from wooden furniture and cushions were torn to shreds. Others looked as if they had been gnawed or chewed on extensively. A chill shot threw Ariana. Was this a joke? In all the books she had read about ghosts, Ariana had never heard of one actually damaging things or being violent. Perhaps there was something more sinister than just ghosts or ghouls at work here. After some convincing Erma too, fell through the basement window and landed beside Ariana. Erma gave one look around the room and began trying to scamper back up through the window. The window was too high for her to reach and so Ariana gave her a foot up, but gravity had allowed them to squeeze through the window and Erma couldn't fit her shoulders out of it again. "Do you think its bewitched to shrink?" Erma whimpered, but had completely lost the ability to speak in her frantic fear. She clung to Ariana's cloak desperately. Ariana had the sneaking suspicion she was crying, but made no mention of it.

"What...what.. .be?" Erma whispered.

Ariana racked her brain, "Maybe..a Red Cap? or Werewolf, Mongolian Death worm, they have these large teeth, you see, maybe..a Blatta, a large moth creature, or maybe a vampire-a vampire would be really neat!-" Erma began to sob openly at that "OR...or it could be a Kneazle! I bet it's a Kneazle! They scratch up everything! It'll be okay, Erma! I promise."

As if on cue, heavy foot steps sounded from the floorboards directly above them. They looked up as dust fell above them. Erma didn't even have enough bravery left to squeak anymore. Ariana shook her wand and the light emanated from the tip of it went out. Erma stiffened behind her and Ariana watched as the footsteps walked above them. She held her wand before her and slowly crept through the maze of furniture. Her eyes became accustomed to the darkness and she found the steps leading to the ground floor. She ran over hexes in her mind, _Stupefy _-stun, _Impulse _- magma_, Stacta -_ oil_, Vepreculus -_ thorns_. _Her heart was pounding painfully in her chest an her breathing was shallow and quickened.

Ariana took a step onto the staircase and it creaked loudly beneath her. Erma whined and gripped Ariana painfully. The footsteps above them stopped.

Then they continued. A low moaning sounded from upstairs. It slowly rose in volume and intensity and then it suddenly stopped. Ariana and Erma took a few more steps on the staircase and then-

WHAM!

A violent hit to the floorboards above them. Erma screamed loudly and lost her footing. She began to tumble down the stairs but Ariana caught her by the hem of the cloak. She clambered back to Ariana and whimpered weakly. Ariana very anxious, what ever was up there most definitely heard them. A nervous sweat broke out all over her body and she began to tremble apprehensively. Her wand was bobbing up and down from the small tremors that shook her body as she held it before her. They slowly clambered up the staircase and were nearly at the top when Ariana's wand came into contact with the trap door above them. Ariana slowly raised it and it creaked and moaned from lack of use. A cloud of dust wafted in her face as she peered through the cracked trap door. It was too dark to make sense out of much that she saw - a moth eaten couch, a door hanging by one hinge, and a wall that was collapsing. The main hallway that ran through the house ran from the opposite end of trap door and Ariana couldn't see that way.

Suddenly the loud footsteps shook the house. It ran from behind Ariana towards the trap door - straight for them.

"AAAAAHHHHHGGGHHH" "AAAAAAHHHHHHHH" Ariana and Erma screamed frantically and threw themselves down the staircase. They tumbled painfully but then Ariana caught herself half way and raced back up it to hold the trap door shut. Nothing tried it. Erma cried at the bottom of the stairs, nursing a sore arm she had landed on.

"This isn't fun. I want to go home!" she wailed and then continued sobbing. Ariana couldn't think of a way to comfort her so she said nothing.

Ariana kept her ear to the door for any signs of what was upstairs. She wondered if it was a poltergeist, since it seemed to be trying to scare them instead of violently attacking. Either way, they had to get out somehow.

"Stay here, bar the door and I'll go take care of whatever it is..." Ariana decided. Erma didn't put up a fight and came to the top of the stairs. Ariana took a deep breath and steeled her nerves.

"Ready?"

Erma nodded and Ariana threw the trap door open, hopped out, slammed the trap door closed again and spun around to face the hallway, wand raised. A dark shadow darted around at the far end of the long corridor, which was lined with old, faded paintings. A tall hooded shape turned to her and began approaching, arms raised. It was a black mass of sorts so it had to be a ghoul or poltergeist - but it was relatively harmless. Ariana raised her wand and shouted, "Stupif- Aghh"

Something large and heavy struck her from the side. She fell to the floor painfully and very dazed. She writhed around and kicked to get whatever had tackled her off but it wouldn't budge. It took her wand arm and pinned it above her head.

Then it began to snicker loudly.

With his other free hand, Fred pulled back the hood of his cloak. Ariana wrestled her hand away from him and socked him right in the nose.

" JERK!"

Fred writhed backwards, clutching his nose and cursing. Ariana didn't relent. She continued to wail on him until the specter at the end of the hall - commonly known as George, pulled her off of him and when she was out of arms reach, she continued to kick him. George had to drag her nearly to the end of the hall before she stopped swinging at him. And then she turned on George, who deserved a few hits too.

However, having expected this George caught her arms and she wasn't strong enough to pull them out of his grip. Despite being bumbled, Fred never once stopped laughing. His laughter came out as harried gasps as he clutched his swollen and bloodied nose. George was also laughing.

Ariana slowly began to calm down from her fear, confusion and adrenaline. Her legs collapsed beneath her and she sat on the ground for a moment, trying to regain her breath.

George waltzed over to the trap door and knocked on it, "It's just us, love! Only joking, you see!? You can come out now!" The trap door squeaked open and George waved cheekily to Erma as she peeked out. The sight of him didn't seem to comfort her very much and she made a noise similar to, "oh." She slowly crawled out. Fred crawled on all fours over to Ariana and threatened to drip blood on her. She shoved him a little.

"Man! You were _SO _scared!" George said to Erma as she emerged. She blushed so violently they could see it in the dim lighting of the Shrieking Shack. "But we were the ones who told you to come here. How did you not realize it was us making a racket? Silly girl!" George patted her on the head.

"What?" Ariana asked incredulously and Erma glanced away guiltily, "They were at the Three Broomsticks..said we should come.."

Fred did his best impression of Ariana's serious voice, "_I'll go take care of whatever it is..." _he burst into another fit of laughter and Ariana glared at him.

"But...but the hag? What was with the hag about?" Ariana never got an answer. Just then a loud banging sound resonated through the building from a nearby room. Erma let out a weak scream, George quickly covered her mouth.

"Was that you?" Ariana asked and she looked between the twins, who had mirroring terrified expressions. "That's-not-us." Fred hopped up and dragged her by the hand, they dashed down the hallway and into a side room. George snatched up Erma and fled in the opposite direction.

The room they emerged in seemed to have at one point been a bedroom. There was a thoroughly destroyed bed to one side of the room. Water had leaked in the boarded up window and ruined it, it stood faded and moldy. There was a collapsed bookshelf and books strewn across the floor and a wardrobe nearest to the door. Fred looked around, frantically then threw open the wardrobe, shoved her in towards the back and hopped in after her. He quietly closed the door behind them as footsteps sounded in the hallway.

"Who's there?" his voice was very distinct - there was no mistaking it.

"Snape!" Fred gasped quietly.

The smell of mothballs filled Ariana's nostrils, she nearly choked on the harsh smell. Fred turned in the tiny space they shared and faced her. She studied him apprehensively. His eyes were sparkling with nervousness but also excitement. His worried gape turned into a smirk and he pushed her farther into the wardrobe, amongst someone's ancient smelly clothes. Snape's footsteps echoed through the hallway as he walked slowly.

BANG

He flung open the door to the room beside them. Fred and Ariana nearly jumped out of their skins, then Fred stifled a giggle. Snape nosed about the room a little then, satisfied it was empty, he returned to haunting the hallway. "You are going to be in so much trouble..." he drawled out slowly as if the words were thick on his tongue.

Snape walked across the hallway and flung open another door across the hall as Fred leaned his body against Ariana's and farther from the light emanating from the door to the wardrobe. Suddenly realizing their closeness, Ariana became quite flushed and it felt as if the air around them got much thicker. Fred grinned at her and brought his face suffocatingly close to hers. Ariana was sweating, her heart was pounding from residual fear from the twins little joke, from the fear of Snape and the nervousness caused by the boy who was strangely close to her. Her head began to swim and her cheeks burned with a blush. She gulped loudly.

And then and there, in a wardrobe that smelled of mothballs, amid some strangers clothing, with Snape getting nearer and nearer to catching them, Fred held her by the shoulders and he crashed his lips against hers.

Ariana felt a wave of emotion flow through her.

Her eyes grew to nearly twice their normal size and she stood there stiffly, her head swimming so powerfully the wardrobe seemed to spin around her. It seemed like time continued in slow motion. He held her tightly and continued to kiss her even as Snape's feet resounded in the hallway once more. Ariana put her hands on Fred's chest and blinked wildly. The door to the room they were in was flung open and Snape entered. Ariana gasped, but the sound died on Fred's lips. Snape walked a circle around the room, Ariana heard him check under the bed, and then he turned towards the door. Snape paused for a second, then his footsteps rounded on their wardrobe. Fred, still entangled with Ariana, reached in a pocket for his wand.

In a sudden flash, Snape flung open the wardrobe door, Fred flipped around and threw his wand in Snape's face, "_OBSCURO!_" Fred shouted and a black blindfold formed around Snape's eyes before he had a chance to see within the wardrobe.

"AGGHH!" he screeched and clutched at the blindfold. Fred hopped swiftly from the wardrobe, dragging a very bewildered and flustered Ariana behind him. She felt as if she was on the verge of a panic attack. Fred gave Snape a swift kick to the shin and they bolted through the door and down the hallway. They ran to another room, the one Snape had emerged from and Fred flung open another trap door. Ariana pointed her wand into the hallway and shouted, "_Stacta!_" and a thick oil spewed from her wand, layering the hallway. Fred jumped down the trap door and she jumped down after him. They both hit the ground running as they heard Snape hit the oil above them.

"Wuahhh!" BAM! He slid painfully across the hallway above them. Fred roared with laughter and they ran away as fast as they could. They were running down a dark passage that had damp earthen walls and seemed to go on forever. They didn't speak until they reached the end of the passage.

Fred broke the silence, huffing and puffing between words, "We'll-come-out-by-the-Whomping-Willow. Careful." They reached a latter and quickly climbed up it and into the cold night breeze. Sure enough, they crawled out of the base of the Whomping Willow.

"Stay close." Fred said and he grabbed her hand again. They circled around the base of the tree until they reached the side facing the Forbidden Forest. "This side has shorter branches. It can't grow in the shade from the forest. We can outrun them. Ready? Don't stop till you reach the edge of the forest, got it?" Ariana nodded and they sprinted with all they had left in them. The Whomping Willow shuttered to life in the very same way it had her first encounter with it. It began swaying its branches high above their heads as they ran. They didn't stop until they reached the forest - the braches came soaring down behind them. They felt the breeze from them, having just missed being 'whomped'.

Ariana skidded to a halt and collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. Fred leaned on a tree for support. "hahaha...HAHAHHAH!" Fred began laughing as he leaned. Ariana shot him a glare and she began massaging her sore legs. Fred continued to chuckle and came to squat next to her, "Admit it! That was wonderful! Best Halloween ever!"

"Splendid..." Ariana said bitingly.

Fred flicked her nose and continued, "Did you see that kick a give Snape! Man, I wish Georgie had seen that!" He laughed.

"There he is!" Ariana pointed back towards the Whomping Willow. Fred and her ducked behind a tree and hunkered down as the silhouette of a Snape emerged, hunched over and limping on one leg. He hurried towards the castle and Fred stifled his laughter.

"Should we hurry to the castle? Where are Erma and George?"

"No. We wait here. Georgie will come get us. He's got the map, you see. We'll run into someone. We were supposed to be back from Hogsmeade by now so they'll give us detention if they spot us." They waited on the edge of the Forbidden Forest for a while. Ariana sat twitting her thumbs, fretting bashfully about her first kiss. She wondered if Fred had ever kissed someone before...most likely, he seemed to know a lot of very pretty girls...like Angelina. Something like jealously flashed through Ariana as she thought this and it worried her so she threw it from her mind. Fred laid against a tree and toyed with the Amiculus Amulet. He removed it from his neck and wound it around his wrist.

"Boy's don't wear necklaces. Nothing with the word 'lace' in it..."

"But they can wear bracelets?"

"Yep."

"Hey, I can see George!" Ariana shouted. A small dot was racing towards them, coming from the castle. He was running straight for them while tucking the map in his back pocket. Fred jumped up and they raced to meet him.

He was out of breath when they reached him, "Something's-happened." he gasped.

* * *

_Author's note again: GASP! They kissed~~! :D_

**Next Chapter: Sirius Business**


	11. Chapter 11 - Sirius Business

**Chapter 11 - Sirius Business**

"Something's-happened." George gasped, " 's hard-to-sneak-in."

He unfolded the map again and Fred and George pointed to routes and discussed their best options. Once they decided, they nodded wordlessly and dragged Ariana towards the clock tower. They ran quickly and burst through the large oak doors. The three ran across the atrium and into a corridor. A crowd of Ravenclaw students were descending from a stairwell at the other end of the corridor. They hurried and blended in with the group.

"Where's Erma?" Ariana asked worriedly.

"Took her straight to the Great Hall." said George.

"What's happened?" asked Fred, "I've never seen them herd us all into the Great Hall. They didn't even do this when a Basilisk was attaching students last year. It must be serious."

"It is Sirius!" Angelina Johnson came bounding down the stairs along with the Ravenclaws.

"What are you on about?" Fred turned to her. "What's serious? Nothings happened has it?" asked George worriedly.

"I don't think so...Where've you guys been? I was really worried! - oh, hi Ari!" Angelina nodded in her direction and she nodded back. Angelina fell in step between the twins - her usual it seemed, and Ariana walked behind them awkwardly, suddenly feeling very out of place.

Ariana preoccupied herself by running through todays events. She remembered the hag, and still had a lot of questions left...she would have to ask Erma...Did the twins plan on scaring her so that Fred would wind up getting a kiss from her? They defiantly had not planned on Snape showing up but the hag had to be their doing...She tried to figure out how two grown boys could scrunch up under one cloak...

Ariana felt very uncomfortable with the notion that Fred had schemed her with the sole purpose of getting a kiss. A large object in her cloak pocket distracted her. She still had the Mood Candle to give to Dumbledore. She wondered if Dumbledore would appreciate it or find it strange...They didn't really share gifts.

They entered the Great Hall and Ariana scanned the room for Susie and Erma. She spotted Susie first and quickly rushed over to her. "Are you all right?!" Susie nearly shrieked, "Where were you?" She grabbed her by the shoulders. "I'm fine. What's happened?" "They said Sirius Black snuck into the castle. He made it all the way up to Gryffindor Tower and slashed up the portrait at the entrance to their common room."

"Is anyone hurt?"

"Not that I've heard. Potter and his friends are over there." She nodded towards Potter, Granger and Weasley, all talking excitedly. Erma quickly found them and hurried over.

"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle. I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately. Send word with one of the ghosts."

Ariana figured that meant her Friday to Sunday extra lessons were canceled for today. It was rather troublesome as she found she had too much nervous energy to sleep. She whished she would have at least brought her textbooks along with her so she had something to distract herself with. As a result, instead of falling asleep when Percy turned out the lights, she was wide awake and spent far more time than was acceptable observing Fred Weasley.

He had laid his sleeping bag between Lee and Angelina, his brother and Alicia were near by. Angelina and Fred spent much of the night chatting loudly and received multiple scolding from Percy.

"Shove off, Perce!" George fussed loudly enough to Ariana to hear, despite being rather far away.

"10 points from Gryffindor!" Percy shouted just as loud.

"BUT ITS YOUR OWN HOUSE!" George shrieked. Fred and George retaliated by pelting him with things every time he walked past them. This process was repeated no less than ten times. Ariana was surprised Gryffindor still had house points by the end of the night.

Ariana had a very sleepless night.

She was awake when Dumbledore returned and told Percy the staff hadn't caught Black. Ariana saw Snape enter the Great Hall, still limping slightly, and mutter darkly to Professor Dumbledore about someone he thought was suspicious.

"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before - ah- the start of term?"

"I do, Severus." Dumbledore said darkly. Ariana had never heard him speak in such a sharp tone. He always seemed to be light and jovial. It shocked her.

"It seems - almost impossible- that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when - "

"I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter.." Dumbledore effectively ended the discussion.

This caught Ariana's attention. Who could it be? Certainly not Potter and his friends, as why would they help the person who murdered his family? It had to be someone else. Ariana could see that Dumbledore had stiffened coldly.

Were they suspicious of her?

But Snape had always been kind to her.

Who else had a history with dark magic? Someone who had ties to the dark side of the wizarding world? Ariana grimaced sourly. Would people suspect her even though she hadn't done anything?

Ariana suddenly remembered Professor Lupin during their meeting with the Ministry. He said he experienced a 'similar condition' growing up in Hogwarts. Ariana wanted desperately to talk to him and spotted him entering the Great Hall for a moment but knew now was not the time.

Ariana spent the night staring up at the bewitched stars twinkling on the ceiling of the Great Hall.

Day broke and the students were allowed to leave the Great Hall. Ariana, grumpy from lack of sleep, trudged up to the dormitory with Susie, who was excited by last nights events like many of the other Hogwarts students. The staff seemed particularly fidgety from that day on. Ariana noticed the teachers and Percy escorting Harry throughout the school.

They packed their things, had a quick breakfast and began their classes. Her need to talk to Professor Lupin helped her make it through the grueling Monday. They were having a double Defense Against the Dark Arts class and dinner afterwards, Ariana figured that would be the best time to approach him.

When she entered the classroom Lupin was no where to be seen. Ariana walked with Susie to the back of the classroom and took their seats. As they walked past Ariana tried desperately not to glance at Fred and George Weasley and their friends. Fred and George both had their arms loosely around Angelina's waist and they joked nonchalantly about something or another.

Ariana's stomach flipped uneasily in her gut and a tinge of something like pain shot through her and ended with a tingling sensation in her eyes. She hurried to her seat and buried her head in her textbook in shame of these strange feelings. Erma and Ariana had filled Susie in on their adventures last night, but she had left out one key detail to both of them:

Fred Weasley had kissed her.

Ariana told herself it was nothing important and it wasn't a big deal but somehow, no matter how many times she repeated it over in her mind she couldn't convince herself of that.

Angelina lamented loudly about their upcoming game with Slytherin having switched to Hufflepuff at the last moment because of Malfoy's 'injured' arm. The members of the Gyrffindor Quidditch team and their friends all took to calling him -and the rest of the Slytherin team, very nasty things.

Lee Jordan even mentioned Cassius to which Susie stiffened and her face curved into something very frightening. Ariana wondered if she was part veela.

Lee continued, "Good thing they don't have a Chaser that's worth a damn! Graham Montague is a prick! He couldn't catch a pass let alone intercept! Adrian Pucey's the same sort! Warrington is new this year in't he? Nancy-boy like that prob'ly wont want to get his slimy hair messed up." Fred and George exchanged awkward glances between themselves and tried to nudge Lee to shut him up, but he took it as encouragement.

Susie's hands clenched on the desk as her eyes bored into the seat in front of her. The Gryffindors chuckled and Lee continued, "What kind of girl would like a nasty git like-" "Sod off, Lee!" Ariana shouted harshly across the room but it was too late. Susie grabbed her books and ran from the classroom. Ariana got up to run after her but remembered her bag. She ran back to get her things as Susie shoved past Professor Lupin. Ariana began to go after her but Lupin stood confused in the doorway. He glanced at Susie's retreating back, then at Ariana and around the room. Abashed, Ariana clutched her books to her chest and solemnly returned to her seat. She unpacked her things and gathered up what Susie had left behind in her hurry. Lee Jordan gave an apologetic wave and Ariana glared at him.

Poor Susie.

Ariana knew Susie struggled with her relationship with Cassius. Part of Susie knew Cassius wasn't trustworthy but the other half of her was fiercely enamored with him. It was secretly a tumultuous internal conflict for Susie.

"Grindylow...-ah, yes - Grindylow was what we were working on wasn't it? Right. Open our textbooks to page 167." Lupin began his class awkwardly, having been thrown off his beat by the dramatic happenings in his class. Ariana sat alone, feeling guilty she didn't run past Lupin to comfort Susie. She wondered if Susie was crying in the dormitory. Ariana slowly turned to said page and flipped through her notes she had taken on the chapter. Words began to form over her notes but it was too jumbled to make them out. Ariana huffed loudly and took out her wand to remove them and wound up removing half of her notes. She shot an angry look at Fred who had his bewitched quill in hand. He gave her an apologetic look and Ariana pulled up a blank piece of parchment. He began writing again.

_Do you think Susie will be alright?_

Ariana glanced at the note, but then chose to ignore it. She was too irritated by them to respond so she concentrated on rewriting her notes.

_Lee said he's sorry. He didn't know._

Ariana still busied herself with her notes, glancing every now and them between them and Professor Lupin as he lectured on grindylows. Fred resorted to doodling. He drew a comical version of patch-work clothed, disheveled Professor Lupin. George grabbed the quill and drew a funny version of Lee with a very large mouth and buck teeth. A word bubble spewed from his mouth and said 'I am a large ig-nor-ramus.' The twins soon forgot they were trying to humor Ariana and began to giggle at their own antics. The next time Ariana glanced at the paper, they were playing a second round of tic-tack-toe.

The class flew by in a haze of worry. Ariana was worried the staff suspected her of letting Black into the castle and her best friend was probably crying somewhere. Break came and Fred and George reformed their group of friends. Fred crumped up small pieces of parchment and flung them at Ariana, thinking somehow that would cheer her up. She shot him another steely glare and he stopped. He took the empty seat next to her and leaned on her desk, uncomfortably close.

"Oh, c'mon. Don't be so pissy." he smiled at her and Ariana refused to look at him. Fred reached into his pants pocket and fiddled around for something for a moment. When he pulled out his hand he held one of their sweets and he dangled it in front of Ariana. She looked at it, wantonly and Fred laughed.

"This one's just a regular toffee. It's really gooey though.." he waved it around a bit before taking it and leisurely opening it as he spun around and sat backwards in the chair.

He took the toffee, and he threw it into his mouth. Ariana frowned and returned her attention to her notes as Fred giggled again.

He copied her frown and said, "Hey, look. I'm sure Susie's okay. I'll see if Lee will go apologize to her personally if that'll help?"

Ariana glanced at him from the corner of her eye and nodded curtly.

"Good." he massaged her shoulder a little and then gave it a pat. "Do you plan on coming to see me play against Hufflepuff, then?" he said with a flirty inclination in his voice.

Ariana flushed and she glanced self-consciously at Angelina. She was watching them markedly from her seat. Ariana looked back down to her notes without seeing them. Fred glanced around, very confused but Angelina had turned back around in her seat. He eyed Ariana questioningly.

"….maybe.." she said weakly without making eye contact with him and he hopped up and chatted with Lee for a moment before returning to Ariana.

The door opened and all heads turned to Susie as she walked in, seemingly normal, not a hair out of place. She looked at her usual seat which was taken by Fred, and Ariana began to violently shove him out of it. "It's fine." Susie smiled softly.

Lee Jordan jumped up as Susie walked past him. "I'm sorry...about earlier. I shouldn't have said that. It was very wrong of me." He smiled genuinely. Susie looked at him and nodded curtly, lips pursed in a way that resembled Professor McGonagall. She walked past him and took Fred's vacant seat and began to arrange her things.

Fred watched the scene unfold then surveyed Ariana, "Happy?" She nodded and crossed her arms, still irritable.

He grinned boyishly and jabbed her in the ribs, "Are you acting all funny because of our _kiss?" _

Ariana bolted upright in her seat and she shuttered as if she had been electrified. Her eyes were as wide as golden galleons and her lips all but disappeared into a thin line. She glanced at Susie, hoping she hadn't over heard. Fred burst into a raucous laughter, banging his fist on the desk in front of him in hilarity. Scarlet flushed across Ariana's face, "Shuttup!" she whispered harshly.

"What? Embarrassed, are you?" he laughed and bopped her on the nose, "You know, Lamb Shanks, you've got to conquer your fears!" with that Fred jumped from his seat and clamored onto the desk. Professor Lupin emerged from his office, about to begin class, but stopped at the scene unfolding before him.

"Excuse me class!? Class!?" Fred bellowed from on top of Susie's desk. Ariana yanked him by his pants leg and hissed angrily, "GET DOWN, FRED. GET-DOWN." Fred ignored her and continued, laughter seeping into his voice.

"Class, I have a very important announcement: I-KISSED-ARIANA-FLAMEL." He enunciated clearly, "That is all. Thank you!" He raised his arms in celebration and the class erupted into applause, hoots, and hollers.

Ariana thought she would _**explode **_with embarrassment. She hid her face in her hands and slunk under her desk as if she was melting. Professor Lupin covered his face with the palm of his hand and stifled his laughter as best he could. George was jumping up and down, cheering and when Fred jumped down from the desk and bowed, he congratulated him with a firm handshake, "Well done, sir. Nice going! -my compliments!" George shook Fred's hand very enthusiastically and for an unnaturally long time. Ariana, still practically under her desk, glanced towards Susie and she was gapping at her in absolute horror. Ariana brought her head to her desk and stayed there for quite some time. Susie stole her seat back for Fred and sat beside Ariana, staring at her wildly. Ariana didn't meet her eye.

Professor Lupin struggled to regain control of the classroom and he even broke into a chuckle a few times. George egged him on. He begged Lupin to tell them about his exploits during his schooling years but he wouldn't comply. He quickly brought them back to the topic at hand.

Susie stayed perched on the edge of her chair, eye's boring into Ariana. After a good while, Ariana found the courage to lift her head up, but just slightly, and she resumed taking notes. Susie nudged her sharply in the side and giggled. Ariana blushed and ducked her head down again.

When class was over, Ariana threw her things in her bag, gave a glance to Susie, and fled the room. Her worries about yesterdays events with Sirius Black had been forgotten in her embarrassment. Susie dashed along after her. They fled to the Ravenclaw common room to regoup. Once they were safely inside, Susie tirade began.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?! You should have _told_ me!"

Ariana laughed and she sat down on one of the large fluffy couches, "I don't know!"

"When?!"

"Last night. When we were hiding from Snape."

"Kind of a big piece of information to just _slip _your mind..."

Ariana buried her face in her hands and brought her knees up to her chest. She took a breath and defended herself, "It doesn't matter..." but her voice told a different story.

"WOW." Susie plopped down on the couch next to her, " You really have a crush on him!" Ariana looked up at her and the big grin across her face suddenly faded, "Do you think so..?"

"Are you kidding me?!" Susie exclaimed, nudging Ariana. She didn't answer. She glanced down as she digested it all. She had never sat down and thought about it that way.

A crush? She had a crush on Fred Weasley? Is that what this really was?

Ariana felt like she was suddenly sent plummeting to the ground from a very large height.

Ariana gasped, "What would my _**father**_ say!?" and Susie laughed.

"We should head down to dinner if we want any.."

They threw their bags upstairs and headed for the Great Hall, all the while Ariana tried to convince Susie - and herself for that matter, that she did not, in fact, have a crush, she was just shocked and embarrassed by the ordeal.

Susie did not buy it.

* * *

**Next Chapter: I Fancy Fred **


	12. Chapter 12 - I Fancy Fred

**Chapter 12 - I Fancy Fred**

The next morning Susie and Ariana waltzed into the Great Hall, deep in conversation about their upcoming practical quiz in Herbology. They took their usual seats at the Ravenclaw table and began to eagerly fill their plates with scrumptious yet questionably healthy breakfast foods, similar to everyday thus far. However this day quickly turned down a very unusual path.

A smart smack on her shoulder aroused Ariana to the presence of Lee Jordan and one of the Weasley twins. It was unusual to see members of other houses at different tables during meals. The twin sad down on Ariana's side, opposite to Susie and Lee took a seat on Susie's opposite.

Being quite distracting trying to figure out which twin she was dealing with, Ariana missed much of Susie and Lee's conversation.

What she missed happened to be Lee Jordon, using honeyed words and casually sliding sweets across the table to Susie in coerced cooperation.

The unidentified twin began his mischief gradually.

"G'morning, Ari! Restful night I hope?"

Ariana didn't answer him, she just eyed him up and down, wondering what he was up to.

"Oh, don't be like that! Smile! -oh! You've got something on your cloak!" he pointed to a spot high on the collar of Ariana's right side, just out of eyesight. "Here, I'll get it. He took out his wand with his right hand, brought it towards her, but paused to flatten the right side of her collar. He muttered something but Ariana didn't catch it. She looked down at her collar and saw nothing. She flipped around to Susie, "Did he do something?" Susie looked her up and down, fought against looking back at Lee Jordon and weakly said, "no..."

Ariana tutted and pulled at her cloak so she could see, but found nothing; she gave up and the incidence quickly left her mind. They hurried on to Charms class and Ariana's mind was fully occupied, she never once noticed Susie perpetually sneaking glances at her from the corner of her eye as she concentrated on making a heavy bundle of gobstones levitate.

She did, however notice a few other student's stares and her conclusion was they were judging her struggles with charms. After class ended, she headed to Transfiguration in quite a huff. When she strode into the room the Gryffindor Quidditch team minus Harry and their captain, were in a heated conversation.

"Gee, you girls had better be on you're A-game. No going easy on them because you've got the hots for Diggory..." one of the twins was saying. "Especially you, Angelina. I think you'd just catch the snitch yourself and hand it to him..." That one was Fred. Angelina blushed and looked away, "You're just jealous of him!"

"Oh yea, I wish I had a few less brain cells whirring around in my head. It's awfully tiring..." Fred retorted, but he seemed genuinely irritated at the thought of his team mates fancying Diggory. When Ariana walked past them they paused and looked at her. Fred's jaw dropped and Angelina giggled lightly. Fred whirled around to George in awe and looked down at his cloak expectantly. He chortled but didn't see anything. Ariana took her seat, very confused and Susie wouldn't meet her eye.

Professor McGonagall strode silently into the classroom and all mouths shut as class began. The class droned on for a very long time, Ariana spent most of it struggling to turn her parchment a bright shade of peacock blue.

After class they filed towards lunch. Ariana suddenly stopped and turned to Susie, "I'll meet you there." and she turned towards the Grand Staircase and quickly clambered up it. A few moments later she emerged in the Great Hall holding the Mood Candle she had purchased for Dumbledore. She took a seat next to Susie and they chatted idly through their meal as she waited an appropriate amount of time before she got up and approached the staff table. She knew it may seem inappropriate to give gifts to the headmaster in public, but he was her guardian and she no longer knew the password to his office, as it was now November and his portrait had informed her it would be different by then. She slowly climbed the steps towards the headmaster and he lifted his attention from his bowl of stewed vegetables to inspect her.

"Ah! Yes, Ms. Flamel?"

Ariana gave a small smile and produced the Mood Candle from beneath her half-cloak. She handed it to him. "Ohhh, charming! That was very thoughtful of you. From Hogsmeade, I presume? Whimsical Witches Wishes?" she nodded. "Yes, I frequent that shop myself, very interesting wares. -what's this?" Dumbledore craned his neck and glanced towards her cloak over the edge of his spectacles, "Ah. Charming." A few of the staff nearest to him; namely, Professors McGonagall and Sinistra, craned their necks to get a good look too. They giggled and exchanged glances. Ariana, now mortified, stared down at herself in confusion. She tugged on the right shoulder of her cloak where one of the Weasley twins had messed with earlier; nothing. She held out her hands and surveyed herself thoroughly, and when she saw it she gasped in horror.

On the left side of her cloak, opposite to where her attention was drawn to by the twin, in bright scarlet, curving letters read:

_**I Fancy Fred**_

Ariana squeaked and spun around to charge towards the Gryffindor table where she spotted a field of red-heads giggling merrily as they watched her from their table. "Oh-Oh goodness!" Professor McGonagall whispered through her stifled laughter as she imagined the fight that would ensue. Ariana remembered herself, and spun around again towards the staff table, and scarlet-faced, she curtsied and quickly hurried off to the Gryffindor table.

"YOU!" She bellowed "...one of you...WHICH OF YOU DID THIS!?" George saw her charging towards them and hollered, "Uh-oh!" as he quickly ducked below the table and crawled safely to the other side and hid behind Harry Potter like a human shield. Fred was too late in noticing and looked up at her with a grin. Ariana stopped in front of him and went to punch him, but thought better of it as she glanced at the staff table, who were still watching. There was a moments pause and Fred glanced over the embroidery on her cloak and burst into laughter, "Gee, thanks! It suits you, you know?" He grinned and rested his chin on his hand as he leaned on the table...kind of...cutely.

"Ah!" she shook the thought from her mind, "Just get it off!"

"Oh, look!" Fred pointed down to his cloak, mirrored on his, just above his heart in royal blue embroidery read:

_**I Adore Ari**_

"You got me too! When'd you do that, mate?" he looked at George applauding. "During McGonagall's class, when you weren't looking. It's charming. You should keep it, shouldn't he Harry?" George said as he nudged Harry, who nodded in agreement. Fred chuckled, "I think I will!" Ariana fidgeted uncomfortably, tucked her hair behind her ear, and stormed off suddenly unable to speak.

She went back to her table and begged Susie to take it off.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" she cried.

"It was all in good fun...plus! Free candy! She emptied her pockets onto the table, "I'll share..."

"Help me get it off..."

Susie laughed, "It's kinda cute...'I Fancy Fred'...hahahaha...umnn 'I Care about Cassius'?" Susie laughed and Ariana scowled at her.

"Take it off..."

"Alright, Alright..." She flipped through the index of her Charms book, and found an appropriate spell.

"_Scourgify_" she flicked her wand and the embroidery shuttered for a moment, then it grew twice its size. Ariana shrieked and Susie stifled her laughter.

"I'll try another one! Umnn..._Tergeo!" _the letters grew and now covered the entirety of the left side of her chest. She cursed loudly.

Ariana walked across the grounds to Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures alone and clutching her cloak tightly in her arms, too embarrassed to wear it despite the frigid November air. She arrived before Fred, George, Lee and the others. She glared at the castle doors, willing them to show up. She watched as two red-heads tackled each other and then Lee, as they raced towards Hagrid's hut. She waited, arms crossed from anger and coldness.

Fred came straight towards her, daringly.

"Fix it."

"It's perfect." he gestured towards his. She showed him hers, and he turned to George in awe.

"Bloody Brilliant!" he cooed elatedly, "It gets larger if you tamper with it?! That's amazing, Georgie! Here! Put it back on!" he quickly threw it around Ariana's shoulders and she whipped it off again.

"Knock it off, you...You..." she couldn't find a suitable name either one of them, "Just take it off! It's too much!"

"It'll cost you..." George cooed impishly.

Ariana glanced between them in utter disbelief.

Fred and George exchanged whispers amongst themselves then decided, "Either you announce 'I kissed Fred Weasley', or you go on a date with me. Those are your options - and you're lucky we gave you options!" he said in a mater-of-fact tone while holding a finger in the air. Ariana scoffed at him and walked away without answering. He jogged after her, "You have to pick one!"

"Or, I could just ask Professor Flitwick to disenchant it! You're kind of thick..."

"I bet you we can find some way to convince him otherwise, right Georgie?" George nodded, knowingly, "We know whose room he sneaks into after dark...little devil, he is!"

Ariana stared at him, horrified, and she shook the knowledge out of her mind. Fred leaned over and whispered in her ear, "That's the problem with the Marauders map, you can see whose sneaking to whose room, and who's spending more time than necessary in the little boys room..." Ariana clasped her hands over her ears in horror and he chuckled delightfully.

Hagrid called them in for their lesson, "Now 'terdays gonna be a lecture, what wif...everything going on and all...so gather 'round. In close, now." The all gathered around in a semi-circle around Hagrid and he began a lecture on the Whomping Willow. If there was one thing Hagrid should be banned from doing, it should be giving lectures. Ariana really liked him as a person but he was the worst lecturer she had ever heard of. He went off topic every five minutes and no one had the heart to point it out to him. The grass was wet as it had been raining for two days now, and above them it looked as if it was threatening to rain again. Ariana took a seat in the mush and Fred quickly scooted next to her. She still refused to wear her cloak and laid it in her lap instead and it only took ten minutes before she was shivering from the cold. With one quick motion Fred flared his cloak and if fell softly around her shoulders and he yanked her down from sitting on her knees. She toppled over into his chest, but being towards the back of the semi-circle, no one saw. He rested his arm on her shoulder and held the cloak shut. They were both two heads sticking out of his black cloak.

Ariana scoffed but didn't move away.

It was very warm beneath Fred's cloak, just the right temperature, and the biting wind didn't stand a chance of piercing it. Hagrid's lecture droned on he seemed oblivious to what the students were up to, as long as they remained quiet; which they did out of respect for him.

"Awwwwww...it's too cute!" a voice whispered above her. Ariana's eyes fluttered open slowly. If felt as if they weighed ten times their usual weight. She yawned and giggles resounded all around her.

Lee Jordan's face hovered over her and George was right behind him, grinning. She tried to straighten up but Fred's heavy arm pinned her where she was.

They had fallen asleep.

Many of the Gryffindor students, George, Lee, Angelina, Alicia and others Ariana didn't know the names of, were circled around them. Fred lay, head slumped on his knees in front of him and one arm around Ariana who was pinned to his chest. She wrestled out from under his arm and he flopped over in the soppy grass. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and sat there as she got her wits about her. Fred mumbled groggily beside her.

"You two missed a very interesting lecture..." Lee said with a voice full of mirth.

Ariana stood up and fluffed the loose grass from her skirt. She looked up at Lee and George's goofy faces, and couldn't help but smirk. For a moment, if just a warm, fleeting moment, she didn't mind the idea of being romantically entangled with Fred Weasley. That was until she saw the look on Angelina's face.

Her heart plummeted to her stomach sourly and she quickly adverted her gaze. Angelina, though she tried to conceal it with a smile, held a flash of hatred in her eyes. Ariana had seen that look in the eyes of men before and a chilling fear shot her down from her cloud of momentary bliss.

Ariana walked slowly to Herbology class, she wore her cloak, no longer caring. The class flew by in a whir and when it was over Ariana walked ghostlike, back to the dormitory, skipping dinner all together. Her appetite was gone. She sat listlessly on her bed, trying to complete her coursework but to no avail, she couldn't concentrate. She gave up and went to bed early. When she finally did fall asleep she had vivid nightmares of witches and wizards writhing on the floor in agony, screaming pitifully and glaring up with hate in their eyes. She saw the face of a young ashen girl standing before their cells, staring callously as she watched them. Father was upset with them. This is what happens if you make him upset.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHGG!"

She woke up to the sound of screaming and she fumbled out of her bed in a panic. The other girls in the dormitory did too but as they rose to from their beds, they all turned to look at her with fear filled faces. Susie rushed over and patted her comfortingly on her back and she soothed her damp, sweat filled hair away from her clammy face and it was then that Ariana realized she had been the one to scream.

The next morning no one mentioned her night terror. Susie didn't even ask about it. They simply pretended it hadn't happened, although some of the other girls gave her a few more concerned looks than usual. It didn't happen just once, Ariana woke in the middle of the night from her reoccurring nightmares for the remainder of the week. It seemed like they were becoming more and more vivid each night. She began to dread sleeping. She was certain talk of her nightmares were circulating around school, particularly because of the degree of sympathy the teachers suddenly held in their eyes when they looked at her, especially Lupin, whose eyes went particularly glassy when he looked at her. He dealt with it by not looking at her at all and he stopped calling on her in class.

She became so restless she fell asleep in her classes and even strict Professor McGonagall didn't punish her, she quickly shook her awake and asked her to wait after class. She complied and waited as the others filed slowly out, Susie waited silently for her outside, and Fred and George, who had undoubtedly heard the rumors too, looked at her gently as they left. George had been kind enough to move the embroidery to the inside of her cloak until she agreed to their terms for removal and she was slightly happy about that. She glanced at it as they exited, '_I Fancy Fred'_ and a small, tired smile curved on her lips as she ran her thumb over it. Fred still bore his proudly on his cloak.

Before the last student had a chance to file out of class there was a knock on the door and Professor Lupin and Professor Flitwick filed in. Susie poked her head in the classroom door curiously only to be reprimanded by Professor McGonagall, "Go along, Ms. Thompson. You can meet her afterwards."

Lupin approached Ariana first, "Are you doing alright, Ariana?" he said gently as if she might shatter if he spoke to loudly. She nodded confidently but she knew she was beginning to look sickly from lack of sleep. She was beginning to fear going to sleep because she knew a nightmare was to be expected but she didn't mention it.

Professor Flitwick tutted under his breath, "ah...poor girl."

"That is not what we have heard, Ms. Flamel." said Professor McGonagall, "Susanna Thompson has informed Professor Flitwick that you are having violent nightmares." her face, though still strict, softened as much as it could.

"Ariana, if you are struggling with something it is always best you find help, instead of baring it all by yourself. That is a very unwise thing to do..." Professor Flitwick advised and Lupin nodded passionately beside him.

"As Deputy Headmistress, it is my duty, and the duty of the Hogwarts staff, to ensure your safety and health while you are under our care. That is why we, and Professor Snape, have prepared this for you-" she pushed a large vile full of a dark green liquid forward, "but it can do nothing more than help you sleep at night. It can't cure you of the horrors you may have experienced..." She trailed off as her voice cracked a little.

They were trying to help her, she understood that, but it irritated her to no end. She wasn't a child.

Ariana kept her face placid as a malevolence seeped through her and must have been reflected in her eyes, Professor McGonagall was taken aback.

"Ariana." Lupin stepped forward, "There is no need to be angry." his voice was stern now, not pitying anymore. "It's not _weakness_. We are not treating you like a _child_. We are treating you as someone we want the best for. We don't want to see you suffering. Now, tell us you will take this sleeping aid. And if you ever have a problem, feel free to bring it to any one of us and we will do our best to help you."

She nodded dejectedly. She took the Sleeping Potion and quickly left them. The Professors heaved a heavy sigh of exhaustion as she left, like discouraged parents. She skipped lunch that day and remained in her room, collecting herself.

That night she took the Sleeping Potion and she did sleep through the night, but it did not do anything to lessen her nightmares. Instead it was as if she were trapped inside them. Before when they became too disturbing or too vivid; when she began to feel the pain, she would wake up. With the Sleeping Potion all such luck had vanished. She spent the night silently writing in pain -in the agony the witches and wizards that haunted her had felt once upon a time. She saw her fathers beaming face, vivid with his blonde hair cupping his proud face as he smiled at her, wand in hand. When she finally woke from her terrors she was drenched in sweat, her sheets had long been kicked to the floor and she had tears streaming like rivers down her face. She slowly, painfully fell out of bed and took a cold shower to calm her nerves. She took the Sleeping Potion and poured it down the drain. She skipped all of her classes that day and stayed in bed, not speaking to anyone.

The following day was the day of the Gryffindor Quidditch match versus Hufflepuff. The weather was atrocious. The ground was flooded with rain and the winds blew so violently Ravenclaw Tower hissed and shuttered with each passing gust, like a giant stone whistle. The glass panes rattled in their frames and some windows with loose fasteners burst open from time to time, which was rather frightening.

Ariana enjoyed it very much. She liked the rain, it was very calming and somewhere between the downtrodden students, the depressed Quidditch players and the drowning earthworms, Ariana felt as if there was someone out there who was just as miserable as she was.

It almost seemed as if that person was Harry Potter, who sulked about the castle, seemingly very depressed that people cared that Sirius Black wanted to kill him. George had been loudly complaining in class that Madam Hooch was overseeing their training for fear of Sirius Black, and now they couldn't discuss the foul moves they wanted to use.

Ariana was late to rise, and quickly hurried to the Quidditch pitch with all of the other students. Susie had plans to watch with Cassius and so Ariana set out alone. It was storming horribly, rain was pelting down at them with horrendous speeds. Ariana tried to use the Impervius Charm but failed and wrapped her cloak around her tightly. She was soaping wet by the time she reached the stands. She slowly ascended the many steps to the platform as the game began. She could barely hear the announcer over the roar of wind and rain. She sat in the lower most stands and looked around for a familiar face, but spotted none. She sat down with her hood up, peering into the dampness for any signs of the players.

It became very miserable very quickly.

The breeze was frigid, especially with the rain soaking them to the core and she couldn't see very much at all.

"Here, try this!" a girl screamed over the roar of the wind. It was Ginny Weasley, bundled up in a Gryffindor sweater that was much too large for her and a matching scarf around her head. She handed her a very worn and beaten up pair of omnioculars. Ariana looked at them questioningly and Ginny's face flushed, embarrassed by their state. Ariana smiled at her, "How do I use it?"

"Here, " she beamed, "you hold them up, press the button right here -sometimes it gets stuck, just wiggle it a little, then you zoom in, like this..and try to keep up with the player. It works well for seeing through the rain!"

Ariana nodded and gave it her best shot. Ginny went back to her seat to get a huge umbrella and brought it back as cover. She sat next to Ariana for the rest of the game. They passed the omnioculars back and forth between each other and tried to keep up with what was going on in the game, it was still difficult even with the omnioculars.

Ginny gasped as it began to thunder, "Ooooohhh," she cried, "I hope they'll be alright..." she gave a great shiver.

"Wait here, I'll try to find you something warm."

Ginny nodded and Ariana headed for the top rows of the bleachers, trying to spot someone selling concessions. Even if the school didn't provide them, there had to be some entrepreneuring students among them who had thought ahead. From the back of the bleachers she scanned the students, it was difficult to see but something like steam, rising from hot chocolate or tea, should be noticeable.

The first time she saw it she didn't think much of it but the second time she scanned her eyes over the back few bleacher she paused. A large dog was seated in the stands, watching the game. Ariana laughed for moment then realized the strangeness of it all.

Animals didn't _watch_ games. Why would they? They wouldn't understand them. A bolt of realization shot threw her just as a fork of lighting struck the ground, dangerously near them. An _intelligent wolf-like animal_.

Is that a werewolf?!

She watched it as it looked up and she followed its gaze, Harry Potter had stopped just above the bleachers and he was looking right at the dog. She glanced back at the dog and it froze noticeably. The beast looked towards the forest, it quickly scampered down from the bleachers and Ariana bolted after it. She had forgotten all about Ginny who was probably thinking she had been abandoned. She forgot all about common sense, which would probably have told her singlehanded teenaged girls were no match for a werewolf but she ran after it anyway with no particular plans for what to do if she caught up to it. It scampered down a stairwell on a very unpopulated side of the bleachers. Ariana ran as fast as she could after it and jumped down the stairs, six or so at a time. She came out at the bottom of the bleachers and spotted the black dot quickly disappearing in the horrible weather. Ariana heard shouts and screams coming from behind her and it got icily cold but she kept her eye on the black dot shooting across the grounds in front of her and ran after it. The animal was much faster than her and was quickly gaining distance between them. She turned a corner around the edge of the Forbidden Forest and caught sight of the Whomping Willow before her. It began to writhe as it woke from its dormant state and then it froze stiffly. She curved around the tree swiftly and just out of reach when caught sight of the large dog-like animal squeezing below its roots and out of sight.

Ariana had been down that path. It led to the Shrieking Shack - where all the furniture was gnawed and broken. That must be where it lived.

She had been stuck in a house with a werewolf and escaped unscathed...

Ariana watched as a broomstick soared above and hurtled straight into the Whomping Willow. With one quick swat from one of its great limbs the broom shattered into a million tiny pieces and scattered across the ground.

Ariana ducked and covered her head with her hands as splinters of the broom littered the air all around her. A large polished chunk by her foot read, 'Nim-' and after a quick search she found another piece that read, '2000'.

Ariana stood in the rain in awe of the information that she may have narrowly excepted contracting lycanthropy and was only awoken from her trance at the sound of shouting behind her. Professor Dumbledore and other staff members were running to the castle hurriedly and shouting with the limp figure of a boy on a stretcher.

Students began filing back into the castle and Professor Flitwick appeared next to Ariana. He sighed at the sight of Harry Potter's prized broomstick and he began picking up the reminisce along with her.

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen - Two Dogs**


	13. Chapter 13 - Two Dogs

**Chapter 13 - Two Dogs**

Ariana spent a long time debating what she should do. Should she inform a teacher of her suspicions that a werewolf was on school grounds? She also considered warning Fred and George to avoid the Shrieking Shack, least they have their last laugh, but she figured telling them not to do something was as bad as egging them on. Ariana decided to not tell anyone until she had researched werewolves in more detail. She was of the understanding that werewolves put much of their weight on their hind feet, the creature she saw distributed its weight evenly.

Ariana buried herself in books in the library only leaving for food and extra lessons after hours. She read up on every species of dog-like creatures, of which there were surprisingly few. Their textbook for Defense Against the Dark Arts addressed werewolves but descriptive texts on werewolves were not very helpful for identifying the real thing in person. Ariana couldn't be convinced of what it was and soon began to question what she saw. Didn't it use its hind legs more? Wasn't its snout extended?

It was infuriating.

Sunday afternoon she was headed from the library, a large stack of books in her hand. She rounded on a corridor and came face-to-face with Professor Lupin.

"Hello, Ariana." he greeted her cheerfully, but frowned as he eyed the books in her hand, "_Being Weary of Werewolves_? _A History of Magical Miscreants_?" his frown deepened. "Just some research, Professor." she said quickly.

"For which class?" he asked curiously and she stuttered trying to think of a quick excuse. It would have to be Defense Against the Dark Arts, wouldn't it...and he had assigned nothing of the sort.

He squinted his eyes at her and furrowed his brow, "Something wrong?" Ariana shook her head no but he seemed rather bothered. He also seemed particularly pale and shabby. He said nothing and began to walk away, Ariana watched him as he left and called after him.

"Professor!" he paused and she hurried to him.

"Professor...what are the chances that there is a werewolf on school grounds? It didn't say anything about werewolves living in the Dark Forest in _Hogwarts: A History_."

"What makes you so interested in them?" he asked quickly, raising an eyebrow.

She paused awkwardly, wondering if she should admit it.

"I think I saw one..." she looked at him to gauge his expression. Concern flashed across his face but quickly disappeared and was replaced with a kind smile.

"Let me tell you about werewolves. Come with me." he led her to his office. "Take a seat." She did.

"Does this have anything to do with Professor Snape? He seems to have assigned my third years and essay on werewolves when he was covering for one of my classes..." he said disdainfully as he wrapped his fingers on the back of his office chair.

Ariana nodded quickly, grateful he had provided and excuse for her. She decided she was being silly. "Yes, sir. I heard about that and I decided to research it incase it was a topic on my O.W.L.s..." she elaborated.

"Hmnn.. well, werewolves are shunned by our society and so they typically shy away from populated areas, either for fear of being hunted down and killed or for fear of infecting others with the disease..." he paused and looked as if he was considering confessing something to her. He apparently decided against it.

"But you said you saw one on the school grounds?" he said curiously.

"It must have just been a stray dog.."

"Hmn...it may be..Is there anything else I can help you with? Are you still having night terrors?"

"No." Ariana quickly lied.

"The potion is working well?" "Yeah, great..." He looked at her disbelievingly and sighed.

"Ariana?"

"Professor?" she was stone-faced and he sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"I told them sleeping through it wouldn't help your nightmares..." he grimaced, "Do you want to talk about it? Maybe it will help get it off your mind...?"

"No." she said it too quickly and a little too harshly.

He raised his eyebrows, "Then I'll see you for lessons after curfew." he motioned towards the door and she quickly left.

She returned the books to the library and received another eyebrow raise, but this time from the librarian. Ariana was confident it was some mistake now, werewolves wouldn't be near the castle. She wanted to ask Professor Lupin about the scratches in the Shrieking Shack but she thought better of it.

The school was alight with talk of the Quidditch game all weekend. Ariana quickly heard tale of Harry Potters fall from his broom and the pitch storming dementors. Ariana was glad she had missed that part.

When classes began again on Monday the Gryffindors were very downtrodden, the Slytherins were elated, and the Hufflepuffs felt guilty about the whole ordeal. Despite the atmosphere of the students, the teachers continued their lessons as always and things quickly returned to routine. November quickly faded away and holiday cheer began spreading across the school like the flu. The school grounds were now absolutely freezing, the strong breeze that whirred around the castle could nearly lift the first years off their feet and drag them away by their cloaks.

Dark circles seemed to form semi-permanently around Ariana's eyes as if she had misunderstood the concept of make-up. Sleeping less now meant more time to study and she became accustomed to it. Her regular haunts included, as always, the library, Ravenclaw common room, and the North Wing which had become a very strict study area thanks to the diligent work of the resident Head Boy. Namely, he had permanently banned Fred and George from entering, for whatever good that did, because they certainly didn't listen to him. When they did turn up they didn't stay long, just to say hello to friends as they seemed to have quit so much as attempting their homework. They spent most of their time pelting stink pellets at first years and students they didn't care for -or were fond of in some cases, it was never clear.

Once they planted a dungbomb in Snape's office. The dungeons smelled for weeks. Snape took fifty points from Gryffindor (making Ravenclaw in the lead for the House Cup) and gave them two weeks of detention in which they were made to clean _all_ of the boys bathrooms in the castle...by hand. They were ill tempered for weeks.

Ariana didn't see Ginny for a very long time. She felt horrible for leaving her during the Quidditch match, and she wondered if she was irritated with her. When a visit to Hogsmeade was announced on the last week of the term, Ariana decided she would buy a good gift to make it up to Ginny. Again, at the announcement of a trip to Hogsmeade the school began to buzz with excitement. Everyone was planning on doing their holiday shopping in Hogsmeade and spent arduous amounts of time discussing gifts they planned on getting. Susie was very guilty of this as she couldn't think of an adequate gift for Cassius, who she was now officially dating. Susie was also going home for the holidays, as she had a very large family to celebrate with. Every time she offhandedly mentioned this she quickly changed to topic, as she knew Ariana stared at her enviously. Many of the Ravenclaw girls would stay up late into the night exchanging mail order magazines amongst each other. Ariana thumbed through them absentmindedly until she was struck with ideas. She had to get George a cloak to match Fred's didn't she? And Ginny could use a new cloak. Ariana ordered a rare Swatting Asiatic Dayflower for Erma, she couldn't wait for her response. Ariana hardly knew Ron, but she saw an add for something she couldn't resist: Blunder Bombs. Small pellets that burst and created oil slicks no witch or wizard could stay standing on. She ordered it with an attached note: 'Use these to get back at Fred and George.' The only other people Ariana could think of were Professor Dumbledore, Susie, and Fred, all of which she was at a loss at what gifts to get. A blush rose to her face as she wondered if she should get a gift for Charlie...she decided against it.

The week before the Hogsmeade trip, Ariana and Susie were stationed in the common room. Having completed her school work was reading a book; _Horrendous Horrors caused by Hinkypunks, _and Suise was doing school work nearby when a first year boy stumbled into the common room looking flustered and confused.

"Ari-anna?" he asked loudly. Ariana glanced around quickly, "..yes..?" she exchanged glances with Susie who shrugged her shoulders and the boy approached her. The common room paused what they were doing to watch and a foreboding sensation swept over Ariana. "Here you go.." the boy said and he handed Ariana a single rose and an elegant looking letter. Fidgeting and glancing around at all of the pairs of eyes on her, Ariana slowly opened the letter. There was a loud bang which elicited a few screams across the room and the letter began to smoke and unfold in front of her. Sparklers fizzed at each corner of the letter and a voice that sounded like both Fred and George sung out a limerick:

_A Hogsmeade trip is coming, I'm sure it's been said._

_Each house has it's own color, Gryffindor is red;_

_Ravenclaws are blue _

_But I'm sure you knew_

_And you're very cute so will you go out with Fred?_

There was another great pop and the letter exploded into a the shape of a sparkling heart. The rose Ariana held absentmindedly in her hand as she surveyed the letter, shot off a firework from the petals which flew like a missile across the room. A few students had to dive out of its way as it ricocheted off of the bookshelf, lighting a few tomes on fire, and finally it exploded midair. Small little hearts cascaded down all across the room. Some of the boys scoffed and some of the girls cooed jealously - even Susie was impressed, and some more intelligent students hurriedly tried to extinguish the bookshelf that had caught fire.

Susie burst into a fit of laughter. She rolled on the couch clutching her side in pain for the longest time before saying, "He's not very subtle is he?"

"Brave. " Ariana nodded and Susie bursting into another fit of laughter.

A Ravenclaw sixth year loudly called to Ariana from across the room, "So? Are you going to go out with Fred?!"

Ariana didn't see Fred all weekend so she had time to try to formulate a rely, nothing of which was witty. She could solve a riddle and write an essay but a poem was her worse nightmare. That night she couldn't sleep so she took up her quill and worked, with a lot of difficulty, on a rhyme. Once she was satisfied, or as satisfied as she was going to get with her horrible poetic skills, she picked up the bewitched quill Fred had given her.

_Fred?_

There was no response for a very long time but she wrote out the poem anyway, hoping it was forming somewhere legible.

_There once was a boy who was brave_

_Asked a question, she thought him a knave_

_But the girl answered yes_

_And he gave his jokes a rest_

_And that, his purpose, did save._

Ariana set her quill down and went to gaze out of the window, her blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She sat in the window sill, her forehead squashed to the glass. The cold air was seeping in from the old pane and she could see her breath forming a mist in front of her. From Ravenclaw tower all she could see was the Whomping Willow, Hagrid's hut and just to the edge of the Quidditch pitch. Frost was forming on the grounds below and it sparkled like fields of diamonds. Hogwarts was very calm at night. There were no noises besides the whistle of the wind past the stone walls. She watched as the trees swayed in the darkness. She watched the shadow of owls overhead pass. She saw the Whomping Willow stretch its branches and sway then go icily still. A very black shadow emerged from its trunk and Ariana bolted upright.

It was that great dog again!

It came hulking from the tree and skirted around the edge of the forest, a fluffy ginger cat trotting right beside it. Ariana didn't blink as she watched it determinedly. It stopped every now and then to sniff around and disappeared behind the greenhouses. Ariana thought of going to search for it but remembered her last late-night encounter with the Whomping Willow and she thought better of it. She waited and watched for the dog to return but fell asleep at some point during her vigil. Hours later she awoke and the sun was up and shining painfully into her unprepared eyes. She turned back to her desk and found a response to her limerick.

_That's nice, but does it mean we have a date?_

She chuckled, _Yes._

That morning she went to breakfast alone as Susie slept in. She ate her fill of fruits and vegetables but a succulent roasted ham caught her eye. Her mind wondered to the large black dog and she wondered if it was hungry. It must have been searching for food last night and she rarely saw rabbits or anything a dog could catch on school grounds. She had no plans until extra lessons that night so she decided to spend the day trying to catch a better glimpse of the dog. Because of the dementors and Sirus Black's attempt to enter the castle, the grounds were most likely off limits, but thanks to Fred and George's influence, Ariana was beginning to see rules as kind suggestions. At least she wouldn't be irritating or harming a student or staff...

She grabbed a large chuck of roast ham and wrapped it in a large napkin from the table and hid it beneath her arm awkwardly then hurried out of the Great Hall and down the corridor.

"What do you think you're doing...?" she found Filch lurking by the large oaken front door.

"Going to my dormitory." she said as she quickly turned and climbed a small stairwell to her right. It led to the second floor and connected to Grand Staircase, she was lucky it was there. Ariana went up to the third floor and crossed over to the Hospital wing and down to the first floor from there. She snuck out quietly and crossed the grounds, following the edge of the Forbidden Forest as she went. She jumped behind a bush and waited as Hagrid passed her and continued on till she reached the Whomping Willow. She paused for a moment and surveyed the area. There was no damage, no dead animal remains, no broken tree limbs, not even on the Whomping Willow. She looked around for a way the large dog was able to still the horrid tree, but she couldn't explain it. Maybe the tree didn't try to kill animals? It was just a people-whomper... ? She mentally shrugged and went to the side of the willow closest to the forest as Fred had taught her. She laid out a piece of ham and wafted the air towards the willow, which was very silly, as the Shrieking Shack was nearly a forty minutes walk away. Ariana sat and waited for nearly an hour. Nothing emerged. She thought of leaving the ham there but she was too impatient and she wanted to look at the beast with her own eyes.

Ham in hand, she quickly sprinted to the base of the tree and hopped down it. A large gale of wind told her she had narrowly escaped being bludgeoned to death. She hit the bottom with a painful amount of force and quickly scurried up and lit her wand. The pathway was empty and still damp like she remembered it. It was scary walking down there alone, knowing a large dog, or even a werewolf may be on the other side. If it were just a stray dog then she should be able to handle it. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves.

It was a long walk but she finally came to the end of the tunnel and she slowly peeped through the trapdoor. It was difficult to see so she listened closely for the sound of a dog moving around and heard nothing. She slowly slid the ham into the room and waited patiently. Her arms began to tire and an idea crossed her mind. She knocked loudly on the wood and waited.

Large, heavy paws sounded on the squeaky floorboards upstairs. She closed the trapdoor so that it was opened just a hair and she could still see. It descended a staircase and turned a corner and waltzed into view. Ariana fumbled with the trapdoor nervously. As soon as the beast saw the ham it threw itself on it and devoured it hungrily. Its mouth, salivating and choking from scarfing down the ham, was mere inches away from Ariana's face as she peered through the trapdoor. It's black hair was matted and filthy with twigs and dirt. Up close Ariana could see its ribs poking out sickly and she felt sympathy for it. Its eyes were yellow and it seemed dangerously intelligent. Once every scrap of meat was gone the beast looked directly at her. Ariana ducked down and held the trap door closed tightly. The beast didn't seem to react. She slowly cracked the trapdoor and peered at it again. It began nosing the door and Ariana put her hand close so it could smell her. It breathed in her sent deeply and she opened the door a small amount more, just enough if she wanted to stick her hand out- which she didn't.

The dog gave a deafening bark.

"AAAAAAHHH!" Ariana lost her footing, let go of the trap door and tumbled down the sloping tunnel. The beast stuck his nose under the trap door as she fell and flung it open. It fell deftly and landed on all four feet in the tunnel. Ariana jumped up and fumbled for her wand in her cloak. She wrestled it out of the fabric while backing away and then threw it out in front of her. "GET BACK!" she screamed, a frantic sweat broke out across her body. The beast paused. It sat down on its large haunches and whined. Ariana cocked her head to the side in confusion.

The great dog didn't attack people at the Quidditch match either. Was it friendly? It hadn't growled at her at all. She kept her wand raised but extended her empty hand towards it. The dog looked at her thoughtfully and slowly moved towards her. Ariana trembled with fear, it could take her hand off in one bite if it felt like it. She silently hoped it didn't feel like it...

It slowly sat in front of her and sniffed her open hand, a wet breeze flickered heavily across her outstretched palm and then it licked her. Ariana laughed and couldn't help herself, she gave the beast a big pat on the head. Sitting down in front of her, the dog was still nearly her height.

"Did you like that ham? I can bring you more! But it's all cooked, you probably don't like cooked meats..." The dog looked up at her pitifully and a bit of drool seeped from its giant mouth. She scratched under the great beasts jaw and he shook his head with a great force. Dirt and saliva flew everywhere. Ariana ducked to avoid it and laughed. It laid down on the floor of the tunnel and Ariana squatted down to sit with it. Part of the tunnel was illuminated by the trapdoor, still open above them.

"I wonder what your name is...Did you have an owner? It looks like no one's taken care of you in a long time..." She pointed at its dirtiness. Ariana talked to it, knowing full well it wouldn't talk back. It was comforting to talk to it anyway. "I was here a few weeks ago and we never saw you! You must be really sneaky! What should I call you, big guy?" she continued ruffling its ears. The big dog stood up suddenly and Ariana squeaked, thinking it had decided to take of her head or something. It looked at her apologetically and moved more slowly. The dog brought his nose to his foot and then pointed with it to her foot. Ariana stared at it as if it had suddenly grown a second head. The dog kept repeating that motion so Ariana grabbed its nose and scratched it for him. He pulled it away, irritated and continued. Puzzled, she said it aloud, "Paw...foot? Paw...shoe?...Black and brown?" That was the color of their respective feet. The dog stopped and looked at her as if she was being stupid. It began the ritual again. "Pawfoot? Is that your name!?" the dog heaved a big breath as if it sighed and she did too, frustrated.

"….that's a horrible name...you're horrible with names..."

They sat together in the dim tunnel for a moment. She sat up and the great dog sat up too. She looked at it and said, "I'm Ariana, by the way.." she held out a hand jokingly and the dog held out his. Ariana burst out laughing. Harder than she had ever laughed before, even at Fred and Georges jokes, even when they told her Percy got inappropriately bitten by a garden gnome. The dog wagged it's tail a little and she laughed harder, until tears formed in the corner of her eyes, "You're a comedian, Pawfoot." The dog shook it head sadly as if it hated the name...

"I have a date next week, you know! It's my first date..." the dog took a exhaled a deep breath, dramatically and turned away from her, disinterested, and she laughed whole heartedly. Ariana told him about Fred. What he looked like. Some of his jokes and pranks he'd pulled before; like the dungbomb in the hallway that upset Filch their first year. About this wonderful map he had that showed all of the people on the grounds and all of the secret passageways in and around school. He flipped around and looked at her intently as she said that. She told him about their kiss upstairs in the wardrobe, in the heat of the moment while Snape was closing in on them...the dogs ears perked up when she said Snape's name.

"Oh, do you know him? " She asked jokingly, "then you'll be glad to hear Fred kicked him hard in the shins when we ran away! He limped for hours!" she laughed and the dog seemed to shake a little as if it were chuckling. Ariana told him everything she could think of, she ran her hands through his thick fur and all of the accumulated sleepiness for nearly a month of nightmare filled sleep seemed to be unleashed. Her head became very heavy and she leaned it on the dog's shoulders, fingers still tangled up in his hair, and she fell asleep like that, it was a wonderful catharsis. The dog, now with the first filled stomach he had felt in years and tired from a long and hard journey, fell into a deep sleep too.

They slept for hours.

It was hard to tell the time when Ariana woke, Pawfoot had been awake for some time, and sat beside her patiently. She shivered and cried out in her sleep, although she didn't remember her nightmare when she woke; it was nothing compared to her usual ones. It was the dogs turn to sympathize with her state. He had seen someone who was terrorized by fears and nightmares before...

She stretched and stood, "I have to get back...I'll try to bring you food when I can, but I can't promise much..." She turned to walk away and the dog trotted beside her. Ariana smile gleefully and patted it on the head. They walked all the way to the Whomping Willow together and when they emerged, Pawfoot showed her the nob that froze the Whomping Willow and she promised to hide meat at the base of the tree when she could.

It was already late afternoon. Ariana waved goodbye to Pawfoot as he sat at the base of the Whomping Willow, and she hurried back to the castle.

Ariana began to carry her bag with her to dinner and when Susie wasn't looking she would shove whatever meat she could, as inconspicuously as she could, into her bag.

It didn't take long for it to become conspicuous.

Sunday afternoon Susie turned around just as Ariana was shoving a whole lambs leg into her bag. Ariana offered an awkward smile but the damage was already done.

"What-are-you-doing?!" she gaped.

"I'm hungry..." Ariana laughed at how silly it sounded.

Susie gave her a harsh look and called her a few choice names until Ariana relented. She figured she wasn't _really _doing anything wrong. "I'm feeding a stray dog..." she confessed. Susie grimaced at her callowness but didn't make much more of a fuss. Ariana was able to sneak out after dinner regularly and tuck large hunks of meats under the Whomping Willow. She longed to visit Pawfoot again but it was such a long trip she could only go when no one was looking for her.

During her after hours lessons, Professor Flitwick and Professor Lupin continued to fuss over her sleeping habits but she was now so improved she wasn't really lying when she said she wasn't having many nightmares anymore. Since her catharsis with Pawfoot she felt 'cured' of her stresses. Her nightmares ebbed away and became less and less gruesome. Instead she dreamed she was telling a big shaggy dog all about her day, about Fred and all of the things she worried about.

Ariana was sitting alone - save for a sixth year student who had fallen asleep, in the common room late at night when she over heard the door knocker taking. That in and of itself was not very peculiar, even if it was after curfew.

"There are three jars with equal amounts of Galleons, Sickles and Knuts. Which one has the highest value?" the knocker asked.

"Stupid. They're all _equal_ aren't they?" "That was easy, mate!"

Ariana was hardly paying attention until she turned to see the Grey Lady drifting into the common room. She did a double take. The Grey Lady cooed as she looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time.

"Why did you have to answer the door knockers question?" Ariana asked softly.

The Grey Lady quickly shot a glance in her direction and cleared her throat, "Ah, my dear, what else would you have me do?" her voice was strained and awkward. Ariana raised an eyebrow, "Go through the wall...you're a ghost..." The Grey Lady chuckled awkwardly and took a seat next to Ariana, "Oh, silly girl! As it gets nearer to Christmas, ghosts can no longer pass through walls...They lose their powers!"

"I've never heard of that before..." she raised an eyebrow and looked at the ghost skeptically. The Grey Lady chuckled and got up, "Best be going now!" The ghost floated across the room and towards the dormitory stairs. She fumbled around for a moment and then opened the door to the stairwell. Ariana decided to turn in for the night and followed after her. She watched as the Grey Lady floated up the stairs leading to the boys dormitory and she scratched her head in confusion. What could the Grey Lady be doing up there...? How strange...

She went up to her dormitory and prepared for bed. She changed into a very cute pair of pajamas Dumbledore had gotten her. It was a light shade of pink and dotted delicious looking with cupcakes. She was crawling into bed when she saw the Grey Lady again, descending down the girls side of the staircase. She was chortling to herself in a strangely deep voice. Ariana stared, her suspicions raising once more as the Grey Lady turned the corner and floated into her dormitory. The Grey Lady spotted her and floated over.

"Ah, we meet again, young Ariana! -Oh what's this!?" The Grey Lady, usually a private an respectful woman, reached out and snatched a letter from her night bureau.

"_Dear Ariana," _The Grey Lady began laughingly, it was the letter form Charlie Weasley, "_I am back in Romania.-" _Ariana threw herself off of her bed and tried to snatch it from her but she dodged agilely. They began to lose their transfiguration as the two of them -yes _'the two of them'_, began to chortle happily. Fred and George began to fade into view through the mist of the Grey Lady and she quietly hissed at them, scared to wake her dorm mates, "GET OUT! GET OUT!" she tried desperately to take the letter from their grasp. George called out to Fred, "Keep reading! Keep Reading!" He held the letter high above her head and read the whole thing in a mocking voice as George held her back.

"On your night stand?! Really?" George jeered, "Watch out, Fred, she may be going out with you just to get closer to Charlie! Those conniving Ravenclaws!" They both laughed ecstatically in hushed tones. "What's this?" George said as he snatched up a picture from the night stand. "Wow!" said Fred, "Who is that!?" It was the photo of her twenty five year old self from their first Potions class. The Ariana in the photo made rude gestures at them and they giggled back. Ariana peered over their broad shoulders to get a look at it, the skirt she had been wearing was painfully short on her twenty five year old self and she blushed bashfully.

"Is this you?!" Fred asked in a breathless sort of voice. Ariana shook her head and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Fred gulped loudly and him and his brother exchanged roguish looks and then chortled some more. "You know, you should be worried, sleeping at night in a dormitory that is this easy to sneak in to! Anyone could just come in here." George quickly changed the subject and patted her on her shoulder, despite this attempt at distraction Ariana didn't miss seeing Fred quickly shove the photo in his pocket but she didn't mention it. "Yeah, you should come to our dormitory. We'll_ protect_ you!" Fred said very devilishly.

Joanna began to stir in her bed so Fred and George quieted down a bit. They began gallivanting around her room, "Look how neat her stuff is, Fred!" "Lets see what's in this drawer! -oh, how boring..." "Where do you hide your embarrassing stuff?" George asked. "I don't have embarrassing stuff.." "She's lying, George, we must be getting close.." "Is it under here?" George looked under her bed; it was spotless.

"Why'd you come here?" Ariana asked curiously.

"To prove we could, of course!" the twins chorused together. They searched everywhere but couldn't find anything special besides the letter from Charlie. "You must be the most boring person alive..." Fred said. She grinned cheekily at him and he laughed and bobbed her on the nose. Once the were satisfied they couldn't find anything of interest they quickly left before any of the other girls in the dormitory stirred.

* * *

_Author's note: WARNING: cuteness overload in the next chapter! + angry Dumbledore! Scarrryyyy!_

**Next Chapter: A Date to Remember**


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